[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
[August 29, 2005]
[Pages 1355-1365]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks in a Discussion on Medicare in El Mirage, Arizona
August 29, 2005
The President. Thank you all. Please be seated. Thanks for coming.
As you can see, it's not going to be just me doing the talking today.
We've got some of your fellow citizens here to discuss how we can make
sure our senior citizens understand there's a fantastic opportunity
available for them in the improved Medicare piece of legislation I
signed.
Before we start talking about Medicare, I do want to thank the good
folks here at this center, those who live here, those who are helping
the folks who live here, for inviting us. It's not easy to have the
Presidential entourage come. [Laughter] I understand that. But at least
my entourage was spiced up by the First Lady's
traveling with me today. I appreciate you coming.
Laura and I are proud to be here. We're proud
to be with Senator Jon Kyl, who is a fantastic
United States Senator. I appreciate you, Senator. We appreciate working
with you, and we appreciate getting to know you. He brings Arizona
values to Washington, DC. He's a good, down-to-earth fellow who cares a
lot about the people here.
And speaking about somebody who does a fine job representing this
district, we're honored to be here with Trent
Franks--Congressman, thank you--and his wife, Josie. One thing about Trent Franks, you don't have to
worry about him telling the truth. He's a good, decent, honorable
citizen, and I'm proud to call him friend. I want to thank you for
coming, Congressman.
I want to thank the secretary of state, Jan Brewer. Madam Secretary, I appreciate you being here. And the
state treasurer, David Petersen--David,
thanks for coming. There he is. I don't know if it helps or hurts, but
he's from Temple, Texas. [Laughter] If it hurts, just forget it.
[Laughter] That's right around the corner from Crawford.
I'm really honored that the senate president is with us, Ken
Bennett. I'm honored you're here. And the
speaker is with us. Thank you all for
coming. I appreciate you coming. Good to see you again, Ken. Speaker,
appreciate you being here.
I want to thank the mayor, Fred Waterman.
Mr. Mayor, thanks for coming. There he is. Phil
Gordon--Mayor, are you here? Thanks, Mayor, good to see you, sir. Proud
you're here. Honored you took time to come. And I want to thank Mayor
Elaine Scruggs of Glendale, Arizona.
Appreciate your service.
When Laura and I landed, we visited with
Ruben and Rita Carroll. They work for the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program,
the RSVP program. The reason I bring them up is that the great strength
of this country lies in the hearts and souls of our citizens. We got
millions of people across our country who volunteer to make
[[Page 1356]]
somebody else's life better. And it doesn't matter how old you are or
how young you are, there's plenty of opportunity in America to
volunteer. And here are two citizens who are setting the way and setting
a great example. Thanks for coming--appreciate you setting such a good
example for others. Raise your hands so they can see you. There you go.
I know my fellow citizens here in Arizona and across the country are
saying our prayers for those affected by the--Hurricane Katrina. Our
gulf coast is getting hit and hit hard. I want the folks there on the
gulf coast to know that the Federal Government is prepared to help you
when the storm passes. I want to thank the Governors of the affected
regions for mobilizing assets prior to the arrival of the storm to help
citizens avoid this devastating storm.
I urge the citizens there in the region to continue to listen to the
local authorities. Don't abandon your shelters until you're given
clearance by the local authorities. Take precautions, because this is a
dangerous storm. When the storm passes, the Federal Government has got
assets and resources that we'll be deploying to help you. In the
meantime, America will pray--pray for the health and safety of all our
citizens.
I also want to talk about immigration here in this State. I
understand the issue well. I was the Governor of a border State. I was
the Governor of the State of Texas. I know what it means to have a long
border with Mexico. And I understand the solemn obligation of the State
government and the Federal Government to enforce our border. I did so
when I was Governor, and I'll work with your Governor and Governors along the border to do so as the
President of the United States. We have an obligation to enforce the
borders.
I understand it's putting a strain on your resources. We know that.
I don't know if you know this or not, but hundreds of thousands of
people have been detained trying to illegally cross into Arizona. In
other words, what I'm telling you is, there's a lot of people working
hard to get the job done, but there is more we can do.
I spoke to Mike Chertoff today; he's
the head of the Department of Homeland Security. I knew people would
want me to discuss this issue, so we got us an airplane on--a telephone
on Air Force One, so I called him. I said, ``Are you working with the
Governor?'' He said, ``You bet we are.''
That's the most effective way to do things, is to work with the State
and local authorities. There are more resources that will be available.
We'll have more folks on the border. There will be more detention space
to make sure that those who are stopped trying to illegally enter our
country are able to be detained.
It's important for the people of this State to understand, your
voices are being heard in Washington, DC. And this Senator and this Congressman are working
closely with the administration to make sure we got the resources
necessary to do our responsibility, which is enforce this border. And
we'll do so--and we'll do so.
I know you're concerned about gasoline prices, and so am I. We
finally got us an energy bill, and I want to thank the Members here for
helping. You just got to understand that the situation we got ourselves
into--dependency on foreign sources of oil--took awhile to get there,
and it's going to take awhile to become less dependent. But this energy
bill means we've now got a strategy which will encourage diversification
away from foreign sources of oil.
And we need to do a lot of things. We need to encourage the
development of nuclear power. We need to continue to develop clean coal
technology so we can use that abundant resource. We need to have more
terminals so we can bring liquified natural gas from around the world
into the United States of America.
We will continue to use the crops in the ground to help fuel our
automobiles: ethanol and biodiesel. It's going to take awhile to get
diversified away from foreign oil, but thanks to Members of Congress,
[[Page 1357]]
we got the bill passed after 4 years of debate, and now this country is
beginning the diversification process. There's no way--I wish I could
just snap my fingers and lower the price of gasoline for you. The
markets don't work that way. I'd be snapping if I could do it.
[Laughter] But we've got a strategy and a plan to help you.
I also want to talk about some hopeful events overseas. First of
all, I hope you've watched what has happened in the Holy Land. Prime
Minister Sharon made a courageous decision to
remove settlements out of Gaza. He said to the world, ``I'm going to
give the Palestinians a chance to develop a democracy.'' And the first
step toward that democracy is to give--is to remove the settlements out
of Gaza. It took political courage to make that decision, and now it's
going to take political courage by the Palestinians and Prime Minister
Abbas to step up, reject
violence, reject terrorism, and build a democracy. And the United States
of America stands ready to help.
And there's hopeful developments in Iraq. I know you see violence on
your TV screens, and it breaks my heart to see the death of innocent
life there. But that's the only thing the terrorists have got going for
them. They've got the capacity to shake our conscience because, unlike
their ideology, we value every human life. Every person is precious.
I am very optimistic about Iraq because, first of all, I believe
deep in everybody's soul is the desire to be free. Freedom is not our
country's gift to the world; freedom is an Almighty God's gift to each
person in this world.
My hopes for free societies, of course, were bolstered when 8\1/2\
million Iraqis went to the polls last January. I know it seems like a
long way away, but it wasn't all that long ago when you think about it.
They voted. And recently, instead of using guns to decide the fate of
the future, Iraqis from all aspects of their society came together and
wrote a constitution. This constitution is one that honors women's
rights and freedom of religion. Not everybody agreed with it, but now
the Iraqi people get to decide. They get to debate. They get to make the
decision this fall as to whether or not that constitution will be the
constitution that governs their society. And that frightens the
terrorists. It scares--they cannot stand the thought of a free society
emerging in the broader Middle East. The free society is the exact
opposite of their vision of the world. If you want to think about the
vision of these terrorists and killers, just think about what life was
like for young girls, for example, under the Taliban in Afghanistan.
There is no dissent. There's no right. There is no freedom.
We are laying the foundation for peace. It's hard work. But I want
to assure you that for your--sake of your grandchildren and your
grandchildren's children, that this policy is laying that foundation for
peace, because we understand free societies are peaceful societies. We
will defeat the terrorists in the short run by staying on the offense.
We will defeat them in the long run by spreading freedom around the
world.
Not only did I sign an energy bill, I signed a highway bill. That's
going to be good for you if you've got a car. [Laughter] I also will
continue to work on Social Security. I just want to make sure the
seniors here understand one thing: Nothing is going to change for you. I
hope you don't listen to all the politics coming out of Washington, DC,
but you will get your check. You need to worry about whether or not your
grandchildren will get their checks.
This system cannot sustain itself the way it is now set up. We got
young kids working to pay payroll taxes into the system that's going to
be broke in 2040. And that's not fair, and it's not right. My job is to
confront problems, not pass them on to future Presidents. And I'm going
to continue to confront that Social Security problem.
[[Page 1358]]
And we confronted a problem in Medicare. I remember the debate in
Washington. They said, ``Well, you know, this is an entitlement.'' Well,
no, the entitlement has already been granted. This Federal Government of
ours decided to provide health care for our seniors. And therefore, my
attitude was, if we're going to provide health care for our seniors,
let's provide the best health care available for our seniors.
And one of the things that the current system, prior to our reform,
didn't do, it didn't provide prescription drugs. Now, think about that
kind of system that was so antiquated and outdated that we would pay
money for an ulcer but not money for the prescription drug that would
prevent the ulcer from occurring in the first place. That didn't make
any sense. We'd provide money for the heart surgery but not one dime of
prescription drug coverage for medicines that would prevent the heart
surgery from being needed in the first place. I always felt that wasn't
a very smart use of taxpayers' money. We'd pay the $28,000 for the ulcer
but not the $500 for the medicine.
Secondly, we didn't do any preventative screenings in Medicare. A
simple proposition says that if we're going to help have somebody have a
healthy life, we ought to have a screening to determine what's wrong so
we can solve the problem early, before it's too late.
Thirdly, we felt like seniors ought to have choice. The Government
ought to trust people. The Government, as you know, in Medicare, made
most of the decisions. This new bill I signed says, ``If you're a senior
and you like the way things are today, you're in good shape; don't
change.'' But by the way, there's a lot of different options for you.
And we're here to talk about what that means to our seniors.
And finally, a part of the Medicare bill that's very important for
younger workers and small business is what's called health savings
accounts. It's a really interesting option that, if you're running a
small business, I urge you to look at to make sure that you've got
quality health care available for your employees.
This is a good bill. It started--the bill started kicking in last
year when--when we had what's called a ``Welcome to Medicare'' physical.
If you're--if you've just recently signed up for Medicare, you know what
I'm talking about. There is a free physical available for everybody
who's signing up for Medicare. That's part of the preventative
screening. And by the way, prior to that, we had drug discount cards for
pharmacies. We saved a lot of seniors a lot of money. About 6 million
seniors took advantage of the card.
What we're talking about today is new programs and plans with
prescription drugs becoming available for our seniors. This is as much
an education exercise as anything else, because I fully understand and
our Government fully understands, many seniors don't want to change.
They're not interested in change. And therefore, what I'm telling you
is, is that, at least listen to what's available. You don't have to
change if you don't want to, but at least be open-minded enough to
listen. And our panelists today are going to represent different
constituencies that will help seniors understand what's available.
By the way, starting October 1st, we have a timetable; we got a
calendar. And I've got my man, McClellan,
with us. He's a doctor and a Ph.D. See, every Government has got to have
a Ph.D., but you notice who--the Ph.D. is not the President. [Laughter]
That's the way--kind of way it works. But he's going to help--his job is
to help make sure seniors understand what's available. Starting October
1st, 2005, Medicare beneficiaries start receiving information about
available drug plans. So this is a pre-selling phase. We're traveling
the country. I'm doing events like these; Mark is doing a lot of events
like these--the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
[[Page 1359]]
We're laying the groundwork. We want people to be prepared for what is
available.
Secondly, on November 15th, enrollment starts. In other words, you
can start signing up. If you're unhappy with the current Medicare plan,
here's an opportunity to sign up for a new plan.
Thirdly, January 1st, 2006, prescription drug coverage begins for
seniors on Medicare. Think about that. For years, there has been no
prescription drug coverage. Starting January 1st of 2006, prescription
drug coverage is available, and you have up to May 15th to sign up. So
we're--there's going to be ample time for people to take a look to
determine whether or not you want to change from your current plan.
There's 780,000 folks on Medicare here in Arizona, and one of the
reasons I have come is, hopefully, to get a message out to as many of
the 780,000 that I can. And by the way, we're leaving behind a lot of
folks who are going to help get out the message here in Arizona as well.
If you got any questions, there's an easy way to figure out what I'm
talking about here. It's called 1-800-MEDICARE. Pick up the phone; there
will be somebody there to answer your question. Isn't that right,
Mark? Yes. [Laughter] We don't want one of
these ``check's in the mail'' deal, you know--or medicare.gov.
The reason I'm telling you this--and I'm going to say it again
before I'm through talking--is that it's really important, for example,
for sons and daughters to look into what's available for their mothers
and dads, and one way to do it is to get on 1-800-MEDICARE or
medicare.gov.
Seniors with no drug coverage and average drug dispenses will see
their drug costs cut in half--by one-half. Think about that. This plan
will cut your drug bill by half. You need to look at it. You need to
look at what's available. And for the first time ever, Medicare has got
catastrophic coverage for our seniors. In other words, it says that
after you've spent $3,600 a year, the Government will pick up 95 percent
of your prescription drug costs. And that's important. That's called
peace of mind. It's peace of mind for you. It's peace of mind for your
family. One of the interesting parts of this Medicare bill is the
catastrophic coverage, and that's important, I thought, for quality of
life--and so did Members of the Senate and Members of the House.
Competition works, by the way. You've got one provider, the Federal
Government; it doesn't give consumers a lot of choice. But when you
provide consumers choice, it's amazing what can happen. People start
bidding for your service, so to speak. They want to attract your
business. And it's going to work in Medicare too. Did you realize that
there's at least one prescription drug plan with premiums below $20 a
month in every State now? It's a pretty good deal. And here in Arizona,
you've got two plans that cost $20 a month or less and six plans at 20
to 25 dollars a month. In other words, you've got people bidding for
your services. That's the whole purpose of the bill, is to say the
consumer matters, and our seniors matter a lot. And so you've got a lot
of choices.
You can pick any Medicare drug plan that meets your needs, and there
will be--as I mentioned, here in Arizona, there's quite a few to choose
from. You can keep Medicare as it is. Do you realize about 200,000
citizens here in Arizona use Medicare Advantage Plans, and they're
really important plans. It's all part of making sure there is a menu of
choice available for our seniors.
I want to talk about low-income seniors right quick. And by the way,
if you're getting your coverage from your labor union or your business,
this bill will help make sure that your labor union and your business
continues to provide health care for you.
I want to talk about low-income seniors, and this is very important
for people to understand; that's why it's important for people to go out
and explain to--what's
[[Page 1360]]
available. One-third of our seniors, the lower-income seniors, will be
eligible for drug benefits that include little or no premium. In other
words, the premium I was talking about was for people who are more
likely able to afford a premium. If you're a poor senior here in
Arizona, you will have--end up with little or no premium, low
deductibles, and no gaps in coverage. It's a good deal, is what I'm
telling you. Let me put it bottom line: You need to look at this plan.
On average, Medicare will pay over 95 percent of your costs for
prescription drugs.
Now, here's what you have to do--now, this may frighten some
seniors--you got to fill out a form. It would frighten me. The good news
is, it's a simple application, and it's four pages long. If you believe
that--well, it could be 40--big print. If you believe that you're
eligible, you need to fill out the form. If you're a mother--I mean, if
you're a son or a daughter, you need to get your mom or your dad to fill
out the form, I'm telling you.
And that's why we're traveling the country. This is a good deal for
our seniors. We have changed Medicare. We have done our duty in
Washington, DC. We've upgraded an important program and made it better.
And part of the challenge--it's one thing to pass the law; that was
challenging enough. But part of the challenge now is to make sure the
Federal Government, in concert with State and local governments as well
as faith-based groups, grassroots groups, community-based groups,
lobbying groups--whatever, all kinds of groups--gets the word out.
I want to thank you all for listening, and expect you as good
citizens to help get the word out.
Now, the man in charge, I mentioned, is McClellan, Dr. Mark
McClellan. Told you he had a Ph.D., didn't
I? He also has an M.D. He has got a big responsibility. He is the
Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Is that
right?
Mark B. McClellan. That's exactly
right.
The President. He's a Texan, which
means he can get the job done and will get the job done.
Explain how you're going to get the job done.
Dr. McClellan. Well, I'm getting a lot
of help, and besides that, we've got a chance now, with the new law that
was just enacted, to turn Medicare into a program, from one that just
pays the bill when people get sick to one that really helps keep them
healthy, with drug coverage, with the preventive benefits that you
mentioned, Mr. President.
The thing is, speaking now from that medical background that you
mentioned, you can do a lot more to keep a patient healthy if they're
your partners in the effort, if they understand what they can do, if
they take steps in their own life to get better care, to take care of
themselves to live a longer and better life. And that's really what the
new Medicare program is all about.
When I say we're getting a lot of help, I mean we're turning
Medicare into a program that's really about partnership: partnerships
with our beneficiaries to make sure their benefits stay up to date;
partnerships with health professionals and advocates and experts around
the country to make sure that people can get the assistance they need to
keep their coverage up to date; partnerships to make people healthier
and save money in the process.
The President. To follow up on this low-income deal for seniors,
make sure that--I need a second voice up here--people are saying, ``Of
course, he's telling us that,'' you know. I'm telling you, it's a good
deal.
Dr. McClellan. It is.
The President. The doc's about to tell
you.
Dr. McClellan. It is. I've had a
chance to talk to a lot of people around the country. I think some of
the people up here on the stage with us have had a chance to as well.
This coverage for people with
[[Page 1361]]
limited income will pay for, in most cases, all of the cost of the
premium. So you have a zero premium, no deductible, no gaps in your
coverage, and you'll only pay a few dollars for each prescription, at
most 3 or 5 dollars and, in a lot of cases, less than that.
And people who may not think of themselves as low-income are
actually eligible for this extra help. Basically, if you're struggling
with paying for your drugs today because you're living on a fixed
income, you've got to worry about paying for the drugs, paying for your
rent, paying for your food; you should look into this program. People
with incomes--in couples--up to, close to $20,000 are eligible.
And so about one in three seniors, Mr. President, as you said, one
in three people with disabilities are eligible for this extra help.
The President. And what happens if somebody is interested and calls
the 1-800-MEDICARE line?
Dr. McClellan. Well, we can give them
help in filling out that form. We're working closely with the Social
Security Administration as well. They sent out letters to everyone who
they think may be eligible, based on their Social Security earnings.
We're starting to get those applications back in. And as you said,
``When in doubt, fill out the application.'' If you can't fill out all
the questions--and it does run 4 pages, but it is big type, and it's
only 16 questions altogether--most people only have to answer 12. If
there's one you get to that you can't answer, that's okay. Go ahead and
send in the part that you can complete, and Social Security will call
you back and help you through the other questions.
The President. Great, thanks. Mark's
doing a good job. Believe it or not, the Government is actually
functioning in an efficient manner on this issue, and I appreciate it.
It really is. He's the right man for this job.
Nancy Bryan. What do you do, Nancy?
Nancy Bryan. How are you doing today?
The President. Good, pretty good. [Laughter] If you like the heat,
I'm doing great. [Laughter] It's not exactly cool in Crawford, either.
[Laughter]
Ms. Bryan. This is a dry heat.
The President. Yes, that's right. [Laughter] So what do you do?
Ms. Bryan. I'm a pharmacist here in the
valley, and I actually work for Wal-Mart and Sam's Club.
The President. Good.
Ms. Bryan. What I do is I travel all over
the valley filling in when people need vacation time or if they have a
day off. And it has been great because it gives me a chance to meet
seniors from all over the valley.
The President. Right.
Ms. Bryan. In fact, I've been spending a
little time up here in Surprise, lately.
The President. That's good. And are you aware of the Medicare--have
you been following what we've been talking about?
Ms. Bryan. I definitely have. Wal-Mart
actually has put together a program for all of their pharmacies, and
they've actually been helping to train us so that we know what to do
when the patients do come in to us. We have information that we can hand
out to them, that we can get them to the people that can really help
them the most.
The President. Part of making sure the seniors know what's available
is to call on a lot of folks. The pharmacists around the country have
been really doing a great service for our seniors. In other words, if--
point-of-sale marketing works. And so you have a senior coming to a
counter; you're available, as are your fellow men and women who work in
the pharmacies, to explain: ``Here's what's available. Take a look at
the Medicare plan.'' Isn't that what you're doing?
Ms. Bryan. Exactly.
The President. Yes. It's a good deal. [Laughter] And there's a lot
of folks making sure people understand. We fully understand that some
people are afraid to
[[Page 1362]]
change; we know that. And you don't have to. But I do want to thank the
pharmacists, and I want to thank Nancy. I want
to thank Wal-Mart. That's called corporate responsibility, is to help
people understand what's available.
And so, what are you finding? Are you finding people are nervous
about it, interested about it?
Ms. Bryan. I think they're just wanting to
know more information. They're a little bit confused. They're a little
bit nervous.
The President. Right.
Ms. Bryan. And I think that they're just
trying to figure out if it really works for them. Is this the program
that's going to really help them?
The President. And there have been seminars at Wal-Mart to make sure
the pharmacists----
Ms. Bryan. Well, we actually have a
continuing education system for all the pharmacists.
The President. Really? That's great. That's important, and so there
will be pharmacists all around Arizona who will have the proper
information to explain to Arizona seniors the sign-up dates, what's
available, when you can enroll, when you can start getting your
prescription drugs. And that's important for people to know.
One of the things--one of the reasons I'm traveling, one of the
reasons Mark is traveling, is to thank people for doing their civic
duty. So I'm going to start, thanking you.
Ms. Bryan. Well, thank you.
The President. I appreciate you. And another person I'm going to
thank--good job----
Ms. Bryan. Thank you.
The President. ----Lieutenant Colonel Don Mowery. Is that right?
Lt. Col. Don R. Mowery. Mr. President.
The President. Yes, thanks for coming.
Lt. Col. Mowery. Thank you.
The President. Of the Salvation Army.
Lt. Col. Mowery. Thank you.
The President. Mowery. The reason I asked Don to come is that throughout this great State and throughout
our country is this wonderful fabric of faith-based organizations, all
of which exist to serve their fellow--fellow mankind. And the Salvation
Army does a great job of doing that by the way.
Lt. Col. Mowery. Thank you. Thank you very
much.
The President. Have you ever heard of the Medicare reform plan?
Lt. Col. Mowery. I have, sir.
The President. Other than this meeting?
Lt. Col. Mowery. I have.
The President. Good. How did you learn about it?
[At this point, Lt. Col. Don R. Mowery, commander, Southwest Division,
Salvation Army, made brief remarks.]
The President. Well, this is an important piece--this is good. First
of all, one of the reasons, again, I want to repeat: You've got a lot of
churches and temples and faith-based organizations and community groups
to help. If you go to a church, do your duty and find out what we're
talking about and help the seniors at your church at least understand
what's available. That's what the Army is doing. They've got all kinds
of programs at the Salvation Army, and they've taken it upon themselves
to say, as a part of their outreach to the senior community here in
Arizona, ``I'm going to learn what this is all about.'' It is--I
appreciate you doing this.
Lt. Col. Mowery. Thank you, Mr. President.
The President. And thanks for setting such a good example.
Lt. Col. Mowery. Thank you.
The President. Now we've got Noreen Goodell. Noreen, thank you for being here.
Noreen Goodell. Well, thank you, Mr.
President.
The President. What do you do?
Ms. Goodell. I'm becoming very nervous on
stage. [Laughter]
[[Page 1363]]
The President. You don't look it, so don't let them know. [Laughter]
Ms. Goodell. I thought that was, ``Don't
let them see you sweat.''
The President. That's it. [Laughter]
Ms. Goodell. I have the privilege and
honor of being a registered nurse, and I work for Sun Health Hospice.
The President. Good. Thank you.
Ms. Goodell. Thank you. And I am also the
caregiver for my parents, my mother and father, and also my mother-in-
law.
The President. Yes. This is an important--everybody is important up
here. Noreen represents a constituency group
that I'm going to keep calling upon--daughters and sons and daughter-in-
laws and sons. We have an obligation, it seems like to me, and you're
fulfilling that obligation.
Ms. Goodell. I am, and I'm blessed for
it.
The President. There you go. So you heard about the Medicare deal.
Ms. Goodell. I have.
The President. And? How did you hear about it?
Ms. Goodell. Well, being a hospice nurse
I deal with a lot of the geriatric population in Sun City and Sun City
West, and sometimes they have questions about Medicare benefits, which
we try our best to answer. So I thought that it was important that I
would try to look into what benefits are available for them and also my
parents as well, to make sure that I can provide the best care possible
and be their advocate.
The President. Right. And is the schedule clear, the October 15th--
the applications go out, the sign-up dates, the--when it begins, is
that----
Ms. Goodell. If it wasn't, it will be
now. [Laughter]
The President. In other words--[laughter]--did you try 1-800-
MEDICARE? [Laughter]
[Ms. Goodell made further remarks.]
The President. Listen, Noreen is here;
she's a nurse. But if you've got a--but she's also a devoted child. Baby
boomers--are you one?
Ms. Goodell. Sandwich generation.
The President. Sandwich generation, all right. I'm a baby boomer.
[Laughter] All of us have a duty to find out what's available for our
parents. We have an obligation as somebody who received the benefit of
the love from a parent to do something to make sure our parents have got
all options available to them. If you're worried about change, you do
not have to change when it comes to Medicare. But if you're someone, for
example, who's having to struggle between food and medicine, those days
are over with. This Medicare bill relieves you of that burden and that
anxiety.
And sons and daughters have got to understand that. And you need to
find out what I'm talking about, for the sake of your parents. If your
mother or father says, ``I don't want to change,'' you don't have to
change. But as a son or a daughter or as a faith-based initiative or as
a nurse or as a pharmacist, you have a duty, as far as I'm concerned, to
investigate what's available and to lay that out for people to see. And
that's what we're here talking about.
And somebody who's going to benefit from this is Margaret
Cantrell. That's you. Speak into that
microphone, will you?
Margaret Cantrell. True, very true.
The President. She told me she has the
same hairdo as my mother. [Laughter]
Ms. Cantrell. The same color. It's the
same color.
The President. Yes, 3 more years as President and I'll have the same
color you got.
Ms. Cantrell. Well, I'll be 82 years
old.
The President. When?
Ms. Cantrell. This coming Monday.
The President. Oh, yeah, well, a little birthday celebration for
you. You're looking pretty darn good.
Ms. Cantrell. Well, thank you.
The President. How you feeling?
[[Page 1364]]
Ms. Cantrell. Fair.
The President. Fair. [Laughter]
Ms. Cantrell. And I'm formerly from
Salem, Illinois, which is Lisa James's hometown too.
The President. Lisa James. Very good, yes.
Nobody knows who she is except for me and Laura.
All right, there's a couple others. [Laughter]
Ms. Cantrell. And I was a nanny for
the James gang for quite awhile.
The President. No wonder you got gray hair. [Laughter]
Ms. Cantrell. And I do understand
about the new program. I received something from Social Security about 2
weeks ago. I immediately filled it out and sent it back in.
The President. Good move. How about that. By the way, before we get
to Medicare, this good lady lives on her
Social Security check.
Ms. Cantrell. I certainly do.
The President. And she told me, she
said she doesn't want anybody taking it away from her.
Ms. Cantrell. That's true.
The President. Isn't that right? It's not going to happen.
Ms. Cantrell. Oh, good.
The President. That's what you've got to know. The Social Security
debate is one that causes people concern because they hear, ``They're
debating Social Security. They may change it, and I'm not going to get
my check.'' If you're born prior to 1950, you have nothing to worry
about.
Ms. Cantrell. I was. [Laughter]
The President. Who's writing your lines for you? [Laughter]
Ms. Cantrell. I have my daughter--I
have just one daughter, Vicki Kaylor, and my son-in-law, Gene Kaylor,
and two grandsons, Steve and David. And Vicki and David are with me
today.
The President. Fantastic. And so how did you learn about the
Medicare plan?
Ms. Cantrell. Well, I received it from
Social Security.
The President. Oh, that's right. You already said that.
Ms. Cantrell. I did. [Laughter] And
I'm on----
The President. Laura said, ``I always said,
pay attention.'' [Laughter]
Ms. Cantrell. I'm on a first-name
basis with my pharmacist, and he's very nice. And he sent me this little
brochure so I'd know more about it.
The President. Good. Have you started studying the different plans
available yet?
Ms. Cantrell. No, I haven't gotten it
yet.
The President. Okay, well, that will be coming your way. And there
will be a different--variety of options, and I'm confident that
Vicki will help you--you don't need help.
Ms. Cantrell. I filled it. She didn't
even see it. I filled it out and sent it back in. [Laughter]
The President. Good. Not everybody is just going to fill it out that
way. That's what people have got to understand, that people are going to
need a little help.
Ms. Cantrell. But it was easy to do.
The President. There you go.
Ms. Cantrell. Really.
The President. She wasn't even
prompted. That's awesome.
Ms. Cantrell. Nothing to it.
The President. Did you get the four-page form?
Ms. Cantrell. I did.
The President. Four pages.
Ms. Cantrell. Four pages.
The President. Sixteen questions.
Ms. Cantrell. I didn't count the
questions, but----
The President. Big print.
Ms. Cantrell. Right.
The President. Good. That's good. [Laughter] Congratulations, you
finally got a form to her. [Laughter] If
in doubt, fill it out. [Laughter]
Ms. Cantrell. Right.
The President. Isn't that it?
Ms. Cantrell. That's it.
[[Page 1365]]
The President. See, it's really important for those of us in public
service to continue to do our duty to folks like Margaret; one, to make sure the Social Security system is
available, and it will be. It's just--just your great grandkids need to
worry about it. I'm not kidding you.
Ms. Cantrell. I don't have any.
The President. Well--[laughter]--you might.
Ms. Cantrell. I might.
The President. Well, somebody else's great grandkids need to worry
about it.
Ms. Cantrell. Right.
The President. Shhh. [Laughter] You're younger; you better worry
about Social Security. If you're an older citizen, you don't have to
worry about getting good health care through Medicare anymore. That's
what we're here to talk about.
Margaret has shown--says to me that,
``Pay attention.'' That's what she did. They got the form. Do people
usually just throw away the paperwork that comes with Social Security?
Now, I know you don't--not the check, but I'm talking about the
paperwork. [Laughter]
Ms. Cantrell. No. No, I don't. I read
it.
The President. Okay, good. I hope you don't either, out there. I
hope people take a look at that form and pay attention to it because it
has got valuable information for you. It means that the quality of your
life will improve if you're struggling with prescription drug coverage.
It means that this Federal Government has finally, after years,
modernized Medicare. And if you want to, you can be in charge. You're in
charge of the decisionmaking process; in other words, there's options
for you. It's your choice to make. If you don't want to do anything, if
you don't want to change at all, you don't have to. But there are a lot
more choices available for you. And if you're a low-income senior, you
got a fantastic opportunity to get prescription drug benefits.
We don't want you choosing between your utility bills and your food
bills and prescription drugs. We want your quality of life to be great,
as great as possible. And this Medicare bill will help there.
I want to thank our panelists for being here. Thank you for what
you're doing. Thank you for your compassion. Thank you all for coming.
May the good Lord continue to bless our great Nation. Thank you.
Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. at the Pueblo El Mirage RV
Resort and Country Club. In his remarks, he referred to Josephine
Franks, wife of Representative Trent Franks; James P. Weiers, speaker,
Arizona State House of Representatives; Mayor Fred Waterman of El
Mirage, AZ; Mayor Phil Gordon of Phoenix, AZ; Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon of Israel; President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) of the Palestinian
Authority; and Lisa James, Arizona State executive director, Bush-Cheney
'04 campaign.