[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10472]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         $250 CHECKS TO SENIORS

  (Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, in 2003, Republicans said they 
were overhauling Medicare, but all they succeeded in doing was creating 
a prescription drug doughnut hole that, in 2009 alone, forced 63,000 
Maryland seniors to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket, forcing 
many to choose between buying the prescription drugs they need or 
purchasing food.
  The Nation's seniors shouldn't be forced to make such a choice. 
That's why, under the new health care law, we are dedicated to closing 
the doughnut hole once and for all.
  Today, June 10, $250 checks are being mailed out to 80,000 eligible 
seniors as a first step to reducing the financial burden faced by 
seniors. Then next year there will be a 50 percent discount on 
prescription drugs in the doughnut hole.
  Mr. Speaker, the first of many benefits under the health law that my 
Republican colleagues opposed and now hope to repeal is on the way. Our 
seniors and the rest of the country can't afford to go back to a broken 
system controlled by insurance companies with coverage gaps, denied 
care, and skyrocketing costs.

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