[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 21]
[House]
[Page 28270]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        FIX THE MEDICARE BENEFIT

  (Mr. BISHOP of New York asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Speaker, hundreds of seniors in my 
district showed up to five town hall meetings I hosted over the past 
month to explain the Medicare drug benefit.
  For as much interest as my constituents demonstrated, they are just 
as confused and frustrated by the daunting task, as President Bush put 
it yesterday, of understanding and then choosing a drug plan from the 
dozens of plans with different premiums, deductibles, copayments, and 
lists of covered drugs.
  Through no fault of their own, seniors are already encountering 
delays in their applications. Consequently, many will not receive their 
drug cards until after the sign-up deadline.
  But we should not be surprised by a benefit whose flawed design was 
the result of ideology prevailing over practicality.
  It is up to us here and now to make sure seniors understand their 
benefit and receive, without further delay, the affordable, life-saving 
drugs they deserve.
  The first step should be extending the deadline by at least 6 months. 
I urge my colleagues to support this simple measure.
  Seniors should not be rushed or penalized as they make this very 
important decision.

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