[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 35 (Monday, September 5, 2005)]
[Pages 1321-1327]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Discussion on Medicare in Rancho Cucamonga, California

August 29, 2005

    The President. Thank you, David. Thank you very much. Thank you. Be 
seated, please. Thank you all for coming. Please be seated. Thank you. 
So David said we went to this school together; it was called a charm 
school. [Laughter] I never won my seat for Congress. He did. Obviously, 
it took on him and not on me. [Laughter] But I want to thank him for his 
introduction. I want to thank him for his leadership. David Dreier cares 
a lot about a lot of issues. One of the issues that he's been talking to 
me a lot about is to make sure the Federal Government does its job in 
enforcing our borders to keep illegal folks out of our country.
    And I want to assure you--I don't know if you remember this, but I 
had a job prior to President, I was the Governor of a border State. And 
I understand the challenges of enforcing our border. I understand the 
Federal Government has a role, and State government has a role, and 
local government has a role. And my pledge to the people of California 
is that the Federal Government will work closely with the State 
government and local government to provide assets, manpower, detention 
space, to do our duty, and that is to make sure this border of ours is 
secure.
    And so I want to thank you on your leadership on that issue, David, 
and I thank you for working with us on that important issue.
    I'm traveling in good company. I'm not talking about Dreier at this 
point--[laughter]--I'm talking about my wife, the First Lady. Thanks for 
coming, Laura. We're both very excited to come to your great State, and 
it is a great State. We were met at the airport by Congressman Ken 
Calvert. I appreciate you being here, Ken. Thanks for coming. 
Congressman Gary Miller as well is with us, as is Congressman Joe Baca. 
Thank you all for being here.
    I knew Brulte would amount to something one of these days. 
[Laughter] He got something named after him. I'm honored to be here with 
my friend Jim Brulte at the Brulte Center.
    I want to thank Mayor Bill Alexander of Rancho Cucamonga. Bill, 
thank you for having us here today. I appreciate your hospitality. I 
want to thank Mayor Paul Leon of Ontario. Paul, thanks for being at the 
airport today.
    I appreciate all the statehouse folks who are here and county folks 
and the local folks for joining us. Most of all, thank you all for 
giving me a chance to come by and discuss a really interesting 
opportunity for our seniors, and that is a reformed Medicare plan.
    Before I get to Medicare, I got some other things I want to talk 
about. First, I want to remind you that the great strength of this 
country lies in the hearts and souls of our volunteers. We're a nation 
that is a compassionate, decent nation, where millions of our fellow 
citizens volunteer on a regular basis to help a neighbor in need. I met 
one such person today in Joe Graff. Joe is with us. He's been a 
volunteer with the Ontario Police Department for 15 years. Joe assists 
the police personnel with traffic control and parking tickets. If you've 
got one, you might want to call Joe. [Laughter]
    But my point to you is, if you really do want to help your local 
community, if you want to help change America one heart at a time, take 
time out of your life and volunteer: Teach a child to read; tell 
somebody you love them; feed the hungry; and America will be a better 
place.
    Joe, thanks for coming. I appreciate you being here.
    As David said, we're praying for the folks that have been affected 
by this Hurricane Katrina. We're in constant contact with the local 
officials down there. The storm is moving through, and we're now able to 
assess damage or beginning to assess damage. And

[[Page 1322]]

I want the people to know in the affected areas that the Federal 
Government and the State government and the local governments will work 
side by side to do all we can to help get your lives back in order.
    This was a terrible storm. It's a storm that hit with a lot of 
ferocity. It's a storm now that is moving through, and now it's the time 
for governments to help people get their feet on the ground.
    For those of you who prayed for the folks in that area, I want to 
thank you for your prayers. For those of you who are concerned about 
whether or not we're prepared to help, don't be. We are. We're in place. 
We've got equipment in place, supplies in place. And once the--once 
we're able to assess the damage, we'll be able to move in and help those 
good folks in the affected areas.
    David also mentioned that we're making progress overseas. And we are 
making progress overseas. Recently, the Iraqis came together and wrote a 
constitution. It's not easy to write a constitution. Look at our own 
history. I was reminded that several of the delegates to our own 
Constitutional Convention stormed out and wouldn't sign the document.
    But now it's up to the Iraqi citizens to make up their minds whether 
or not they want to live in a constitution. It's a constitution, by the 
way, that guarantees women's rights. It's a constitution that guarantees 
religious freedom. It is a good document forged by compromise. It's a 
document where people came together to say, let's do what's right for a 
fledgling democracy. It's a document that stands in stark contrast to 
the days when the people's lives were run by a tyrant.
    We're doing everything we can to bring the terrorists to justice. 
They've only got one weapon. They have no ideology of hope. They have no 
optimistic vision. The only thing they can do is to murder innocent 
people and hope that we lose our will. The success in Iraq is vital for 
success--for peace for our children and grandchildren. And therefore, 
the United States of America and our coalition will continue to work 
with the Iraqis to build a democracy, continue to build--to lay the 
foundation of peace, and continue to help the Iraqis train and prepare 
so they can defend their own country against the tyrants.
    David's right, it was right here in 2000, I talked about Social 
Security. I want to repeat right quick what I said, ``If you're retired 
and receiving a Social Security check, you have nothing to worry about. 
You will get your check.'' You'll get your check. But you need to worry 
about your children and your grandchildren.
    See, there's a lot of baby boomers like me getting ready to retire. 
Matter of fact, my retirement age is in 2008. Quite convenient. 
[Laughter] And there's a lot of me. There's a lot of baby boomers. And 
we're living longer, and we've been promised greater benefits than 
previous generations. And yet there are fewer people paying into the 
system. Now, if you add all that up, what I'm telling you is, it's going 
broke for younger workers. If you're receiving your check, you're in 
good shape. You have not a thing to worry about. Isn't that right?
    But you need to worry about the young workers who are putting money 
into the system that is not going to be around. I'm going to keep 
working this issue. I believe it is essential that a President confront 
problems and not pass them on to future Presidents and future 
Congresses, and I believe it's essential this Congress act.
    So in other words, I hadn't changed my mind since I came here to 
talk about Social Security. The other thing I worked on with Members of 
Congress was to fulfill our promise to our seniors that they'd have as 
good a health care system as possible. Medicare is a really important 
program; except Medicare wasn't modern. When we got to--when I got to 
Washington, it was a system that was kind of stuck in the past. I'll 
tell you why. Medicare would pay for heart surgery but not a dime for 
the drugs that could prevent the heart surgery from being needed in the 
first place. It would pay $28,000 for ulcer surgery but not $500 for the 
prescription drugs that could prevent the ulcer from occurring in the 
first place.
    That's not a modern system. That's an antiquated system. And not 
only that, it was costing the taxpayers more money than necessary. It 
seems like to me it makes fiscal sense to say, ``Let's spend the $500 to 
prevent

[[Page 1323]]

the 28,000 from being needed.'' It's a wise use of your money, it seems 
like to me. But we weren't doing it that way.
    And so I called upon Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, to 
work together to modernize the Medicare system. And what we're here to 
talk about is a strengthened Medicare program. And the reason we're 
having to travel around to do so is because I fully understand a lot of 
people don't want to change. In other words, people who are on Medicare 
say, ``Look, just leave me alone. I'm not interested.'' And if that's 
the way you feel, that's fine. This is voluntary program. But what I 
want to hear--want you to hear is there are some really good options for 
you to choose from if you want to. In other words, there's a menu of 
opportunity now available to you.
    If you've just recently signed up for Medicare, you know one of the 
reforms that we've put in place. It's called ``Welcome to Medicare'' 
physical. For the first time in Medicare, the Government is now paying 
for a physical. Makes sense, doesn't it? Why don't we test you early so 
we can solve the problems early?
    There's preventive medicine involved with Medicare now, and that's 
important. But the big change is going to come when it comes to 
prescription drug coverage. Seniors with no drug coverage or average 
drug expenses will see your drug costs cut in half. In other words, you 
take a look at this program, you're going to have some big savings when 
it comes to drugs.
    And for the first time ever, we got catastrophic coverage as a part 
of Medicare. In other words, once you're out of your pocket a certain 
amount of money, the Government kicks in for a lot of the remainder. You 
see, this is a quality-of-life bill, but it's also a peace-of-mind bill. 
In other words, it's a chance to really modernize the system, on the one 
hand, but it's also to provide security on the other. And that's why 
there's a catastrophic coverage in there.
    If you're a low-income senior, you will virtually pay nothing for 
your prescription drugs. And that's important for you to know. If you're 
a low-income senior, the Federal Government will pick up at least 95 
percent of your prescription drug coverage. There will be no gaps in 
your coverage. There will be low deductibles.
    And so we're here to try to encourage you, as seniors, to look at 
the different options for you. You know, for example, we're going--
you'll hear from some of your fellow citizens--or our fellow citizens up 
here, and they're talking about Medicare Advantage Plans. If you're on a 
Medicare Advantage Plan, these plans will be strengthened under this 
reform package. If you're getting your health care from your union or 
your former employer, there's incentives in the bill to provide monies 
to make sure that your provider still provides you the health care. In 
other words, it's a comprehensive piece of legislation, and it's a good 
one. It's a good one.
    I know that you wept, like many of us wept, when we heard stories 
about people having to choose between food or medicine. Those days are 
gone because of this Medicare legislation. Now, we got us a timetable 
that people have got to pay attention to. It starts with this: On 
October the 1st, beneficiaries start receiving information about 
available drug plans. In other words, the Government is going to start 
making sure information is available for you all to understand that 
which is available to you, if you so choose to pick one, a different 
plan. And that starts October the 1st.
    On November the 15th, you can start signing up for a plan that suits 
your needs. Again, I repeat, if you're happy with what you've got, don't 
worry about it. Just kind of take the paperwork and file it. [Laughter] 
But if you're interested in different options, look at the information 
that's being sent and know that starting November 15th, you can enroll, 
and starting January 1, 2006, for the first time, thanks to this piece 
of legislation, prescription drug benefits will--prescription drug 
coverage will begin for our seniors. And you got up until May 15, 2006, 
to sign up to pay the lowest premiums.
    Now, our job is to make sure that a lot of people know what's 
coming. In other words, our job is to encourage people at the State 
level and the local level and the Federal level to educate seniors. And 
that's what we're doing here today.
    I put a good man in charge of this program, and that's Dr. Mark 
McClellan. He's

[[Page 1324]]

from Texas--[laughter]--which means he knows how to get something done. 
He's got him a Ph.D.----
    Audience members. Oooh!
    The President. Now, wait a minute. [Laughter] If I had said 
California, he'd have got things done too. [Laughter] I'm just telling 
you, he can get it done. That's why he's sitting where he's sitting. 
He's a Ph.D. Here you got on stage a C student and a Ph.D., and look 
who's President. He's also an M.D. But he's also responsible for making 
sure that information gets out. By the way, if you're interested in 
information, call 1-800-MEDICARE, or medicare.gov.
    Mark, tell them what you've been doing.
    Dr. Mark B. McClellan. We've been working to make sure that people 
know about the options that are coming, and there are some really good 
options for people here in California by the way, where I used to 
practice medicine before coming into Government, right here in northern 
California----
    The President. See? [Laughter]
    Dr. McClellan. ----and in southern California as well. We've got a 
number of plan choices that are going to be available that are a lot 
less expensive than people thought.
    When this bill was first passed, people were talking about the 
coverage costing around $37 a month. Well, what we know from the plans 
that are going to be available here in California, the costs are going 
to average only around $25 a month out here, and there will be plan 
choices available to seniors and people with a disability for less than 
$20 a month. And many of them will provide extra coverage.
    So this is worth taking a look at. And as you said, Mr. President, 
it's designed to work with the coverage that you have now. If you're 
lucky enough to have drug coverage from an employer, you can now get 
help from Medicare in paying for that employer coverage. If you've got a 
Medicare Advantage Plan, one of the Medicare health plans that offers 
some drug coverage now, well, those plans are going to offer more drug 
coverage next year. So no matter what situation you're in, you can get 
help with your drug costs from Medicare, and that help is looking 
especially good right here in California.
    The President. One of the things that--if you want to apply for the 
benefits for low-income seniors, you have to fill out a form. I know 
that generally frightens people. It frightens me. A four-page form, that 
sounds like a lot. You'll be pleased to hear it's big print--16 
questions on 4 pages. And the Social Security Administration has mailed 
out those forms.
    Dr. McClellan. That's right. They've sent letters out to millions of 
people who they think are eligible for this coverage, because a lot of 
people who don't think of themselves as low income, but are struggling 
with their drug costs, are actually eligible for this. The eligibility 
goes up to people living on incomes up to close to $20,000 a year for a 
couple. So that's most people who are trying to get by month to month 
just on their Social Security check.
    The President. So it's really important to look into this program, 
and it's important to take a look at the forms. And for those of you out 
there who are trying to help our seniors, it's important for you to 
understand what I'm talking about. Part of making sure this works and 
part of making sure that the information is spread throughout our 
society, is sons and daughters need to pay attention to this program. 
You need to do your duty as a son or a daughter and get this information 
to your moms or your dads. That's what you need to do. You need to make 
sure that you help investigate what's possible and not miss a really 
good opportunity.
    This is a good deal. And therefore, you need to follow through on 
it. And part of the process is to fill out this form. And it's not all 
that hard, but if you get stuck, there's a way to get unstuck on filling 
out the form.
    Dr. McClellan. That's right. Just fill out the questions that you 
think you can answer. Send it in. Social Security will call you back and 
help you fill out the rest.
    And Mr. President, this is extra help worth about $4,000 altogether, 
so it's about $1,000 a page for people filling out this application. 
It's very comprehensive drug coverage, no premiums, no deductibles, just 
a few dollars, usually, for the cost of your prescription, all for just 
a four-page form.
    The President. Mark has been on the road with the Secretary of 
Health and

[[Page 1325]]

Human Services and others on a grassroots campaign. Because we 
understood when this started coming out that we needed to do a lot of 
education. Again I repeat, some folks simply don't want any change, and 
I understand that completely. But I urge you to take a look, and you'll 
find more options available. You see, the more options that are 
available, the more likely there's going to get--you're going to get 
what you want. And if you're a low-income senior, you've got to take 
advantage of the Government program. It is a good deal.
    Now, part of making sure that we're able to get the word out is 
we're rallying grassroots organizations. One such organization is Larry 
Krutchik's organization.
    Larry, thank you for coming. Tell the people what it is.

[At this point, Larry Krutchik, regional director, Medicare Today, made 
brief remarks.]

    The President. I appreciate that. Isn't that great? I mean, to me, 
it's--I appreciate you doing that, and I want you to thank the 
volunteers who are working on this program on behalf of the seniors who 
are going to benefit from it.
    If you're going to a church and you're interested in the project, 
why don't you help the elderly in your church understand that which is 
coming? Why don't you take a little time and find out the programs 
available and find out--get the forms and help somebody? This is a good 
deal. I know it may--you're probably saying, ``Another politician saying 
it's a good deal.'' [Laughter] I'm telling you, it is. And it makes 
sense to pay attention to it.
    And we understand we have an obligation to get out and make the 
information available. It's your choice. The Government is not telling 
you what to do. But the Government is saying, ``Here's some interesting 
opportunities for you.''
    And Larry, I want to thank you for being out there and making those 
opportunities available.
    We got another fellow here, Ken Morris. Ken, thanks for coming. What 
do you do to make a living?

[Ken Morris, pharmacist, made brief remarks.]

    The President. One of the interesting places where we're able to 
make this program better known is at the pharmacies. I mean, it makes 
sense if you're going to pick up a prescription drug and the pharmacist 
is the point of contact and the pharmacist says, ``Hey, look, here's a 
new thing coming down.'' And we've got a lot of pharmacists from around 
the United States who have signed up to help, and I want to thank the 
pharmacists for doing that.
    What do you find when you hear--give us a sense of what you're 
hearing out there.
    Mr. Morris. Well, it's long overdue. The seniors are welcoming this 
plan with open arms, as are health care professionals such as myself. 
It's heartbreaking for me to deal with seniors that come in, as you had 
mentioned, maybe with a heart surgery and to find out that they've now 
got a list of a half-dozen medications and they're trying to make a 
decision on which ones to take because they can't afford to take all of 
them. So it's tough; it's a long time coming.
    The President. But are people beginning to become aware that there's 
a new Medicare bill that had been passed and some options are now 
becoming available?
    Mr. Morris. Yes, I think so. As we get a little closer, I think, to 
October, I think the questions will start ramping up. But at this point, 
people have been getting mailings. We just need to make sure that they 
understand exactly what the plan is about.
    The President. Yes. There's a great opportunity for those of you out 
there who want to help a senior citizen in your neighborhood, is to 
help. Get on the Internet, medicare.gov. Look it up. Find out what we're 
talking about. Make sure what we're talking about is exactly what the 
Government has got available. I think it is. I think you're going find 
out what we're--what Mark and I are telling you is exactly what's going 
to happen. But it's a fantastic opportunity.
    And again, I want to thank the pharmacists. I want to thank the 
community activists, the grassroots organizers. This, by the way, isn't 
a Republican deal or a Democrat deal; this is good for America. It 
doesn't matter what your party is when it comes to Medicare. We just 
want to make sure, and the Government has an obligation to make sure,

[[Page 1326]]

you got a modern system that works well so that you can live in dignity. 
They ought to call this the ``You've Retired in Dignity'' bill, because 
it's a good piece of legislation.
    And we've got some folks up here who are concerned about their 
Social Security or Medicare. Joan Gest is with us. Thanks for coming.
    Joan Gest. Thank you, Mr. President.
    The President. Proud you're here. She's----
    Ms. Gest. Very happy to be here.
    The President. Her sole source of income is Social Security, by the 
way. I could tell--she was looking at me when I first walked in the room 
to meet her; she was wondering whether or not old George W. is going to 
take away her Social Security check.
    Ms. Gest. I sure hope not.
    The President. The answer is no. You're going to get your check.
    Ms. Gest. Thank you, sir.
    The President. You deserve it.
    Ms. Gest. And I'm on Medicare, and there's been times that I've had 
drugs that I refused to take because they were too expensive.
    The President. Yes.
    Ms. Gest. And I think this plan could help me. And as a volunteer at 
Kaiser Hospital and as a community representative for downtown Fontana, 
I'm hoping to pass this word along to some of our organizations in town 
and some of our service groups and some of our senior citizens homes. 
And I hope that I'm able to do that.
    The President. See, that's great, isn't it? Here she is somebody who 
was wondering what the program means for her and as well is willing to 
spread the word. And I hope people who are--thank you for doing that. 
Thank you for volunteering too.
    Ms. Gest. Thank you. I'm a mother of five children.
    The President. Five children.
    Ms. Gest. Five step-children.
    The President. Fantastic.
    Ms. Gest. Twenty-seven grandchildren.
    The President. Whew.
    Ms. Gest. And three great-grandchildren. And I have a son, Mike, out 
in the audience today that----
    The President. Mike listening to you?
    Ms. Gest. He better be.
    The President. Yes. [Laughter] Kind of like my family. [Laughter]
    Joan, one of the most things--proud things--one of the things she 
was most proud to tell me about was the fact that she loves to 
volunteer. And that's one of the great parts of the American spirit, is 
people like Joan are willing to--she's willing to take time to make 
somebody's life better. So I want to thank you for that. Thank you for 
passing the word.
    Ms. Gest. Thank you.
    The President. You betcha.
    Myrtle Jones. Where do you live, Myrtle?
    Myrtle Jones. I live in Rancho Cucamonga.
    The President. Yes. Right here with the home folks.
    Ms. Jones. Yes, I am. And I've participated here--since 1988 I've 
belonged here.
    The President. That's good.
    Ms. Jones. And I'm a retired management. I managed three dry 
cleaning establishments, and then I retired and did some in-home nursing 
and retired from that. And now I'm an elder in my church, and I 
volunteer here and do a lot of work here. And I also have three 
wonderful children, Rod, Dorothy, and Richard. I have six grandchildren, 
five great-grandchildren.
    The President. Whew.
    Ms. Jones. And I have managed on my own without the help from them. 
[Laughter]
    The President. Yes, take that. [Laughter]

[Ms. Jones made brief remarks.]

    The President. Myrtle, you need to get that four-page form, and you 
need to look at it, and you need to fill it out.
    Ms. Jones. I will.
    The President. Because I think you're going to find the strengthened 
Medicare program is going to help you a lot.
    Ms. Jones. Oh, it will.
    The President. It really will.
    Ms. Jones. It really will.
    The President. The purpose of coming here today--thank you all for 
doing this, by the way. The purpose of coming was to encourage--good 
job. The purpose of coming was to inform as many folks as we can, 
obviously, in person and on TV, that Medicare

[[Page 1327]]

has been strengthened, and Medicare has been modernized, and that if 
you're really interested in helping a senior or a senior helping 
yourself, look into this plan. Look into what's available.
    And you can find out on medicare.gov, or you can call 1-800-
MEDICARE. If you get a form, fill it out. When they send you a form to 
determine whether or not you're going to be eligible for this enhanced 
drug benefit from the Federal Government, fill it out. It doesn't do any 
harm to fill it out, and if you need help, somebody will help you fill 
it out.
    The Government has an obligation to our seniors to provide a health 
care system. We have done that for years. Now we took it upon ourselves 
to make sure the health care system we provided was strong and modern, 
and we have done that. And pretty soon, people are going to be able to 
make choices if they want to. And our job at the Government level and 
job at the grassroot level and jobs in the community centers and 
community groups is to help people understand what's available.
    I want to thank you all for giving me and Laura a chance to come 
back to Rancho Cucamonga. It's a beautiful place you got here. We 
appreciate your hospitality. May God bless you all. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 2:40 p.m. at the James L. Brulte Senior 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to former California State Senator 
Jim Brulte; Mayor William ``Bill'' J. Alexander of Rancho Cucamonga, CA; 
Mayor Paul S. Leon of Ontario, CA; and former President Saddam Hussein 
of Iraq.