[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26008]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                MEDICARE

  (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 40th year of Medicare. 
Two years ago, the 108th Congress passed significant legislation that 
filled in a missing link in Medicare. That missing link was the missing 
part of prescription drugs.
  Significant changes in the Medicare program are going to result in 
more services, more coverage, and more responsiveness from a program 
that, quite frankly, no longer lived up to what it needed to do, which 
is taking care of our seniors in a timely fashion, allowing them access 
to prescription drugs on a timely basis.
  Mr. Speaker, a lot of people are complaining that there are too many 
plans and it is too complex. Two years ago we heard the opposite, that 
not enough plans would show up, and that it would be a default position 
that would only be offered to Medicare beneficiaries.
  The situation is complex because health care is complex, but these 
are important decisions. I urge people over this holiday season coming 
up to sit down with their mothers and fathers, to sit down with the 
Medicare beneficiaries in their families and help them work through 
this process. I think we will find this to everyone's betterment.

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