[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 24 (Monday, June 16, 2003)]
[Pages 737-738]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

June 7, 2003

    Good morning. This week the House and Senate will be working on one 
of the most important issues facing Congress, improving Medicare to 
offer prescription drug coverage to American seniors. And on Wednesday I 
will travel to Chicago and talk about our responsibility to give seniors 
more choices and better benefits, including help with the rising costs 
of prescription drugs.
    We have a tremendous opportunity to reform Medicare and help our 
seniors. The budget I proposed and which the Congress passed provides 
$400 billion in additional funds over the next 10 years to strengthen 
and improve Medicare, so we have the resources to make reform work. 
We're also seeing a growing consensus, in both houses of Congress and 
both parties, that our seniors need a strengthened Medicare system that 
includes prescription drug coverage. The time is right to make progress.
    Our nation has made a binding commitment to bring affordable health 
care to our seniors. We must honor that commitment by making sure 
Medicare stays current with the needs of today's seniors. When Medicare 
was launched 38 years ago, medicine focused on surgery and hospital 
stays, and that is mainly what Medicare covers. Today, doctors routinely 
treat their patients with prescription drugs, preventative care, and 
groundbreaking medical devices, but Medicare coverage has not kept pace 
with these changes. Our goal is to give seniors the best, most 
innovative care. This will require a strong, up-to-date Medicare system 
that relies on innovation and competition, not bureaucratic rules and 
regulations.
    My views on Medicare are clear. First, those who like the Medicare 
system as it is should be able to stay just where they are and also 
receive prescription drug benefits.
    Second, those who want more coverage for preventative care and other 
benefits should be able to choose from multiple health plans under an 
enhanced Medicare program. This option would be similar to the health 
care coverage available to every Federal employee. If that coverage is 
good enough for Members of Congress and Federal employees, it is good 
for our seniors.
    Third, seniors who want the benefits of managed care plans, 
including prescription drug coverage, should be able to choose from a 
range of plans that best fit their personal needs.
    And fourth, we must provide extra help for low-income seniors, so 
that all seniors will have the ability to choose the Medicare option 
that serves them best, and every senior will have the option of a 
prescription drug benefit.
    In a Medicare system that reflects these principles, every senior in 
America would enjoy better benefits than they do today. And they would 
continue to benefit from the most important strength of American 
medicine, the ability to choose your own doctor. We want seniors and 
doctors, not Government bureaucrats, to be in charge of the important 
health care decisions.
    Members of Congress are working hard on this issue, and I encourage 
their efforts. I also urge Americans to make their voices heard. If we 
work together, Congress will pass a strong Medicare bill, and our 
seniors will finally get the prescription drug benefits and choices they 
need and deserve.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 9:40 a.m. on June 6 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on June 7. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
June 6 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The Office of 
the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of this 
address.

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