[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 15 (Monday, April 17, 2006)]
[Pages 699-706]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Discussion on Medicare Prescription Drug Benefits in 
Annandale, Virginia

April 12, 2006

    The President. Thanks for coming. I first want to thank Bob Templin, 
who is the president of Northern Virginia Community College, for hosting 
us again. This is a place of educational excellence, and what you're 
about to watch is a seminar on the new Medicare benefit. And the reason 
why we've got to conduct seminars on education about what's available is 
because there is a lot of people who haven't signed up yet for the 
Medicare benefit, and we want people to pay attention to what's 
available.
    And one of the interesting things about this meeting is, I'm trying 
to show that our Government is reaching out to people from all walks of 
life and all neighborhoods. And so this is my job. I'm the Commander in 
Chief, but I'm sometimes the Educator in Chief, and that's what I am 
here to do today. So thank you for coming.
    As you can see, we've got a different way of doing this--it's not 
going to be just a speech, but it's going to be--I'm going to rely upon 
our fellow citizens to help share what's available and why you ought to 
take a look, if you're eligible for the Medicare program. We want 
everybody around our country who's eligible for Medicare to take a look 
and see if it will make your life better. What I'm saying is, it will.
    So, Bob, thanks for having us. I want to thank Vellie Dietrich-Hall, 
the commissioner of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian 
Americans and Pacific Islands. Thank you, Vellie. Clayton Fong, who is 
with us, he is the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging executive 
director. I want to thank all the community leaders here.
    I particularly want to thank the veterans who are here with us 
today. We have been joined by a special group of people, the veterans 
from the 442d Regimental Combat Team. By the way, Senator Inouye of 
Hawaii was a member of that very important regimental combat team, and I 
want to thank you all for being here today, and thanks for serving our 
country. Welcome.
    I also want to thank the Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao, who is 
going to have some remarks here.
    So we're talking about Medicare. Our Government made a commitment to 
our seniors to provide health care. My attitude is, if Government makes 
a commitment, then we better make sure we make a good commitment. And I 
was worried that the commitment we made to our seniors was not as good 
as it could be. And so I went to the United States Congress and said, 
``Let's work together to make sure the medicine we provide for our 
seniors is modern and is up to date.''

[[Page 700]]

    One of the things that we didn't do through the Medicare system 
prior to this reform was, we didn't provide prescription drugs. But 
prescription drugs was an important part of medicine. I'll give you an 
example. If you would have ulcer surgery under Medicare, the Government 
would pay about $28,000, but the Government wouldn't pay one dime for 
the medicine that would help you prevent the ulcer surgery in the first 
place. Now that didn't make any sense. It didn't make any sense to not 
pay $500 to save 28,000.
    And so I said, well, we can do better than this. Let's make sure the 
medicine we deliver to our seniors is modern. Let's make sure the 
program works as well as it possibly can. And we passed a bill.
    And so one of the things that this bill does is, it says to seniors, 
here's a new plan for you to look at. As a matter of fact, in the State 
of Virginia, there's over 40 plans to look at--40 different options for 
a senior to choose from. I thought that was very important to have 
available for seniors. Government tends to say, sometimes, ``I'll choose 
for you.'' I believe Government ought to say, ``We trust you with your 
choice, and here are some options from which to choose.''
    The problem with that is that can be confusing to some seniors. Some 
people reach the stage in life where they just simply don't want a 
choice. They're happy with the way things are. And I knew that would be 
the case when we started to bring out the Medicare program. So we put in 
place--and you'll hear from some people who have been involved with 
outreach to our senior citizens. That means, we'll go out and explain to 
people why the different options may make sense to a senior, so a senior 
can design a program to meet his or her needs, that makes the medicine 
modern. This program helps all seniors with their drug benefits. That's 
important to know. This program provides choices for seniors. And 
although that can be somewhat confusing, it's an important part of the 
program.
    As a matter of fact, it's part of my philosophy. My philosophy is, 
let's trust the consumer. Let's trust the taxpayer. Let's give people 
different options from which to choose. Let them design the program, not 
have the government design the program for them.
    By the way, they estimated the cost at something like $34 per month 
premium for the drug program for the typical senior, because there are 
choices. It now costs about $25 a month. In other words, choices mean 
people are going to compete for your business, and that's an important 
part of helping to hold the cost down for the people we're trying to 
help, as well as the taxpayers who are paying the bills.
    This program provides what's called stopgap insurance. In other 
words, when you reach $3,600 for drug costs, the Government pays 95 
percent of the bills for you. I think that makes sense. It makes sense 
for a senior to know that he or she doesn't have to worry if something 
out of the ordinary were to occur; kind of, a catastrophic plan would be 
available to help. It makes sense for a son or daughter who might be 
worried about his or her parents' finances. And so this new plan has got 
what we call catastrophic care or stopgap care which is very important.
    And, finally, if you're a low-income senior--about a third of the 
people eligible for Medicare are low-income--or incomes are such that 
they qualify, the Government will pay over 95 percent of all the costs. 
If you're a low-income senior, you really need to look at this program. 
Any senior needs to look at this program. The average cost savings per 
senior on the Medicare program, on these pharmaceuticals, is one-half. 
People's drug bills have been cut by half because they have signed up 
for this program. And that's really important. It's important for peace 
of mind. It's important for the person's pocketbook.
    Now, I know that sounds too good to be true, but it's happening all 
across the country. As a matter of fact, 29 million people have signed 
up for this program. There are 42 million seniors eligible for Medicare, 
and 29 million people have signed up since January. And that's positive.
    And by the way, when 29 million people show up for a new program, 
there's going to be some glitches. And you're about to hear from a man 
whose job it is to make sure that he takes care of the glitches. That's 
what Presidents do--they delegate. [Laughter]

[[Page 701]]

    We straighten out problems as they occur. Twenty-nine [million] * 
people have signed up. There are 6 million people who are eligible who 
have got a job, and they don't need the Medicare. I'm about to talk to a 
good man in that situation. And there's 7 million people who are 
eligible who have yet to sign up. And so the reason I've come today is 
to urge every senior here in the room and around the country who might 
be listening on TV that if you have not signed up for the Medicare Part 
D program, you really need to do it. That's the seminar part. That's 
trying to educate people.
    * White House correction.
    And by the way, there's a lot of other people helping. It's not just 
me. We've got the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging helping. We've 
got the Organization of Chinese Americans helping. AARP is helping 
seniors realize what's available. The Federation of Korean Associations 
is helping to sign up people. Other Asian American groups all around the 
country are helping. Faith-based programs are helping people realize 
what's available. If you're a son or a daughter whose parent is eligible 
for Medicare, you need to do your duty. Be a good--be a good, loving 
child and explain to your parents that which is available for them.
    And how do you do it? You can get on the computer, medicare.gov, and 
look and see whether or not your mom or dad ought to sign up for a 
program. I'm just telling you what's happening so far. People are saving 
a lot of money when it comes to their prescription drugs.
    By the way, prior to this bill, we had people in this country who 
had to choose between food and pharmaceuticals, and that wasn't right. 
We had people who had to choose between paying their utility bill and 
whether or not they could pay for their prescription drugs. And that's 
not right.
    This bill I signed and this program we're discussing helps change 
that. If you're eligible--and a third of the seniors are eligible--the 
Government will pay over 95 percent of your pharmaceuticals. We're a 
compassionate country. We want our program for Medicare to work well for 
our seniors.
    I fully understand some of the seniors say, ``I don't want any 
choices.'' And that's okay. But somebody ought to at least help you 
look. It doesn't cost a dime to look and see whether or not this program 
is meant for you. It doesn't cost one penny to see whether or not you 
can save money--and I bet you can. So part of the outreach here is to 
say to those of you who are helping our senior citizens realize what's 
available, thank you for what you're doing.
    We've set a deadline for May 15th for people to sign up in order to 
get the discounts involved in the program. And so we're going to spend--
``we'' being the Government and people involved in the Government--are 
going to spend a lot of time traveling around the country explaining to 
our senior citizens, the 7 million who have yet to sign up, take a look. 
It's a good deal.
    So I've got with me today some people who are involved in the 
program. First, Elaine Chao, she just spoke. She's the Secretary of 
Labor. She's been in my Cabinet since day one; she's doing a fine job. 
I'm proud to call her friend. Do you have some words of wisdom here?
    Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. Mr. President, I sure do. Number 
one, remember--please remember May 15th is the deadline date for the 
first enrollment. If you don't take advantage of the benefits by May 
15th, your premiums will increase if you register by the second date, 
which is in November. Please remember, May 15th is very important.
    Second of all, it's not that difficult to sign up. There are many 
organizations in your communities that can be of help. Also, call on 
your children, ask your children to help you sign up. Now, we know that 
there are many people who speak different languages, so the Department 
of Health and Human Services has actually toll-free numbers--now, I'm 
going to see whether I have them here--we have booklets and brochures in 
all different languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, 
Vietnamese, Japanese. And if you are a non-native speaker and you want 
some help, let me give you some toll-free numbers as well.
    If you speak Chinese--that's Cantonese and Mandarin--the toll-free 
number is 1-800-582-4218. Don't bother taking it down;

[[Page 702]]

there will be these numbers available at the desks, but I do want to 
tell you now just in case. The Korean number is 1-800-582-4259. And the 
Vietnamese toll-free number is 1-800-582-4336.
    So as the President mentions, this is a good deal. For the majority 
of people, you're going to save money. So take a look at the Medicare 
Part D program, and please, do remember, May 15th is the signup date.
    The President. Thank you, Madam Secretary. Okay, so here's the way 
this works. You're the President, you say to the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, ``Make sure the plan gets implemented.'' That's called 
delegation. He then turns to another guy, who happens to be a Texan 
named Dr. Mark McClellan. He's the administrator of the Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services. It's a long word for, he's in charge of 
making sure people know what's available.
    So when there's not enough operators to answer the phones--which 
took place earlier this year; as we said, call 1-800-MEDICARE--a lot of 
people called 1-800-MEDICARE, and they got a busy signal. So we said, 
wait a minute, make sure you've got enough operators. We had a problem 
with dual-eligible citizens, and he worked it out with the States. He's 
a troubleshooter.
    He's also responsible for making sure that enough information gets 
out so that people can realize what's available. And I want to thank 
him; I want to congratulate him, even before he talks, for recognizing 
ours is a diverse nation. And this is an interesting meeting, isn't it, 
when you think about it. In other words, there are seniors from all 
walks of life, some of whom require a little special help to learn 
what's available--maybe a little assistance with the language. Maybe a 
special group, they've got confidence in a special group that might 
represent their heritage and their culture, and that group will help 
explain. We're reaching out to everybody. We want every senior eligible 
for Medicare to realize what's available.
    Anyway, McClellan, you're doing a fine job. Why don't you explain to 
me what your responsibilities have been and what you intend to do to 
make sure people know what's available.
    Dr. Mark B. McClellan. Well, thank you, Mr. President. As you said, 
this is the most important new benefit in the Medicare program in 40 
years. And while prescription drug coverage is really important, this is 
part of making Medicare work in a new way to help people stay well and 
live longer, and not just pay the bills when they get sick. We can't 
afford that anymore.
    To do that effectively, we need to collaborate. And you talked about 
delegation; well, what I've done is help, worked together with many 
partners around the country so that people can find out about what 
Medicare offers today. We're not just a program to think about when you 
get sick. Medicare can help you stay well and live much longer through 
prescription drugs, preventive benefits, and other help.
    So we've started a new approach of reaching out at the grassroots 
level, we're partnering with more than 10,000 organizations around the 
country to reach all of our diverse beneficiaries where they live and 
work and play and pray.
    That includes groups like the ones represented here, like the 
National Asian Pacific Center on Aging. Clayton Fong works very closely 
with me to help provide some of those translation services that you 
mentioned. It involves many local partners, like the Asian Service 
Center in Washington, DC, has worked closely with Qien, who is on my 
staff at CMS, and many of our other partners to help get the word out 
locally.
    We want to make sure people know about this important new benefit, 
and if they have questions, there are lots of places to go to get the 
personal information they need to make a good decision and start saving. 
That includes the medicare.gov web site, which many of the sons and 
daughters of our beneficiaries are using, as well as the beneficiaries 
themselves. It includes our 1-800-MEDICARE, 24/7 customer service line, 
which has around 7,000 trained representatives now and can provide help 
in multiple languages for people who call in.
    And it includes events like this one, that are taking place all over 
the country, more than 1,000 a week, where people like me, many of your 
other senior officials, are helping to get the word out and helping 
people

[[Page 703]]

find out about how they can take advantage of this new assistance.
    The President. Back me up here on the low-income part of the 
program.
    Dr. McClellan. Well, the benefit for prescription drugs is important 
for everyone with Medicare. A typical senior can save about $1,100 
compared to not having drug coverage. That's more than half of their 
drug costs. And for people with limited incomes, that's about one in 
three of our seniors who are living month to month on a fixed income, 
they can qualify for extra help, they can get their prescriptions for no 
premium and usually just a few dollars for each drug--paying 95 percent 
of their drug costs. And that's a very important extra help to sign up 
for as well. And we can put you touch with the application process and 
get you into that program as well. It's very important extra help. It's 
worth about $3,700 a year.
    So for people--if you're on Medicare, if you've got a parent who is, 
someone you care about who is, looking into this program between now and 
May 15th means, literally, $1,100 worth of help, at least; $3,700 worth 
of coverage if you have a limited income; and protection for the future 
against those high drug costs that you mentioned earlier, Mr. President.
    The President. Yes, this is a good deal. And it's really worth 
people looking at. I'm going to repeat: If you're a son or a daughter 
and your mother or dad is eligible for Medicare, you need to help your 
parent. You really do. You need to get on the phone or get on the 
computer, medicare.gov, or 1-800-MEDICARE.
    Now, Qien He is with us. Qien, where were you born--yes, I know 
where you are. [Laughter] Where were you born?
    Qien He. I was born in China.
    The President. Isn't that interesting. Now he is a part of making 
sure that people realize the opportunities of Medicare. Born whereabouts 
in China?
    Mr. He. Okay. First of all, on behalf of Asian----
    The President. No, where were you born in China?
    Mr. He. In China, in Beijing.
    The President. Beijing. See, I'm asking the questions. [Laughter]
    Mr. He. Okay.
    The President. And you're a doctor?
    Mr. He. Yes.
    The President. Of what?
    Mr. He. Doctor of social linguistics.
    The President. Social linguistics. And when did you come to the 
States?
    Mr. He. Nineteen-ninety.
    The President. Nineteen-ninety. And here you are sitting on the 
stage with the President. You're welcome. We're glad you're here.
    Mr. He. Thank you.
    The President. And so what is your job?
    Mr. He. Okay, I'm a health insurance specialist for the Centers for 
Medicare/Medicaid Services. My office is in Philadelphia.
    The President. Your office is in Philadelphia?
    Mr. He. Yes.
    The President. So you've come all the way from Philadelphia to be 
here?
    Mr. He. Yes, I come here last night. Tomorrow and tonight, I have to 
come back and organize a similar event tomorrow for seminar for people 
in Philadelphia. It's called, Market Closure Enrollment event, in 
Philadelphia. Actually, Secretary Chao will go with----
    The President. Okay. So your job--one of the jobs is to continue to 
reach out to people in the Asian American community to convince them to 
pay attention to this program. So are you having any success?
    Mr. He. Well, we have a lot of success. But here, I would like to 
share some successful stories with you.
    The President. Okay, let me hear some.

[At this point, Mr. He made brief remarks.]

    The President. See, one of the interesting things about America is 
that there are thousands of people who work in the grassroots to make 
the communities in which they live a better place. It's really one of 
the great things about our country, isn't it, when neighbors help 
neighbors. And what he's really saying is, his job is to convince a 
neighbor to help a neighbor. That's called grassroots. That's what--it's 
kind of an odd word, maybe, for some to understand. It means at the 
local level, that people are willing to help somebody who needs help.

[[Page 704]]

    And that's what your job is, isn't it?

[Mr. He made further remarks.]

    The President. Well, thank you. Listen, well, I appreciate it. 
[Applause] Hold on, hold on. Thank you. Save your energy. Thank you, 
very much, for that, Qien; thanks for your kind words.
    What Qien is saying is, is that we recognize there are some people 
out there that sometimes aren't able to get the message like other 
people. And so we want this message to go throughout all the 
neighborhoods. Here, we're talking to Asian Americans, but we want 
people in every neighborhood to hear the message.
    So, for example, we're working with the AARP to get the word out. 
The NAACP has been helpful to make sure that certain seniors who are 
eligible for this program get the message. That's what we want.
    And so if you know somebody or if you're listening on TV and know 
somebody who's eligible for Medicare, make sure you call their attention 
to the program. And remember, there's a lot of seniors who might be a 
little confused at first over the number of choices. But convince them 
to be patient and look at what's available and help them design a plan 
that meets their needs. And what you will find is, there will be 
savings. People benefit from this program. It's worthwhile to look at.
    I'm talking to Dr. Yining Wang. Welcome, Dr. Wang. Thank you for 
being here, sir. Got to speak into the mic. You're a doc?
    Dr. Yining Wang. Yes, I'm doctor in the research area.
    The President. Where were you born?
    Dr. Wang. I'm born in Shanghai.
    The President. Shanghai. And here he sits, as well, talking to the 
President of the United States. We're glad you're here.
    Dr. Wang. Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
    The President. Proud you're here. When did you come to the United 
States?
    Dr. Wang. Well, it's 1988.
    The President. Nineteen eighty-eight.
    Dr. Wang. Yes.
    The President. That's a fine year.
    Dr. Wang. No.
    The President. Yes, it was. [Laughter] Well, maybe not for you, but 
for, you know--my dad got elected President in '88. Anyway--[laughter]--
so you were a doctor. Where did you work?
    Dr. Wang. I'm sorry?
    The President. Where did you work?
    Dr. Wang. I work in the cardiovascular area for the physiology and 
pathology.
    The President. Oh, fantastic. And you're now retired?
    Dr. Wang. I'm retired at the end of year 2004.
    The President. That's good.
    Dr. Wang. That's good. [Laughter]
    The President. And so what happened? So you hear--how did you hear 
about the Medicare program?

[Dr. Wang made brief remarks.]

    The President. Very good. Interesting story, isn't it? So here's a 
man, he's a well-educated fellow. The first reaction, however, to the 
program was, ``There's so many choices; I don't think I want to get 
involved.'' That's a natural reaction, by the way. And yet, 
nevertheless, as he said it, ``patience'' was the word I think he used--
but somebody helped you understand. AARP gave you some advice.
    Dr. Wang. AARP, yes.
    The President. You can get good advice from AARP; you can get good 
advice from somebody who works for the CMS; you can get good advice from 
somebody from your church; you can get good advice from your son or 
daughter. There are all kinds of ways to get good advice.
    What we're doing here today is explaining to seniors, there's a lot 
of people willing to give you advice. And it's worthwhile taking a look. 
And the reason it's worthwhile taking a look is--you just heard the 
reason. The man said he's going to save about $200 a month. That's good 
savings.

[Dr. Wang made further remarks.]

    The President. That's great. You did a good job, doc. Thank you. 
Very good job.
    Dr. Wang. Okay.
    The President. I appreciate you. Thank you. Good job, sir.
    Dr. Wang. Thank you so much.

[[Page 705]]

    The President. Bob Nakamoto, third generation American. Welcome.
    Bob Nakamoto. Thank you.
    The President. Look, this is a guy still working. Remember I said 
there's 6 million people still working who get good health care? He's 
one of the 6 million. Working strong at age 74, and he's not going to 
slow down a bit.
    Mr. Nakamoto. That's right.
    The President. Isn't that right? What do you do, Bob?
    Mr. Nakamoto. I'm a chairman of a company called Base Technologies. 
We do IT consulting work, primarily with the Federal and State 
government; based in McLean, Virginia, and third generation Japanese 
American.
    The President. Congratulations. And how is your company doing?
    Mr. Nakamoto. We're doing well. We could do better with your help. 
[Laughter]
    The President. Give a man a mic, there's no telling what he's going 
to say. [Laughter] Give us your experience. You took a look at what was 
going on, didn't you?
    Mr. Nakamoto. Pardon?
    The President. You took a look at the Medicare.

[Mr. Nakamoto made brief remarks.]

    The President. See, here's the reason why we've asked Bob--one, is 
we like to be around successful people, don't we? Secondly, he is a 
fellow who is eligible, but has chosen to stay on the current program 
provided by his company, but recognizes that upon leaving the company, 
there's a good program available. And that's important for people to 
understand.
    Twenty-nine million people have signed up. Here's one right here. 
There are 6 million people who have not signed up because they're 
working--and that's Bob. I bet there's somebody out there who represents 
that part of the 7 million people who are eligible, yet who haven't 
signed up. And it's really important for you to look.
    So you've been looking around at these things, taking a look. You 
find it okay? I mean, you're a computer guy, so it's a little unfair to 
say whether--you know, whether or not----
    Mr. Nakamoto. We're okay with that.
    The President. Using friendly--it's user-friendly?
    Mr. Nakamoto. Right.
    The President. Yes. See, we try to design this program so it's 
called, ``user-friendly.'' That means you can get on there if you're--
you don't have to be a computer genius like Bob--and take a look.
    Mr. Nakamoto. Right.
    The President. Your advice is? Retire and get on it.
    Mr. Nakamoto. Right.
    The President. Well, not retire, but when retire.
    Mr. Nakamoto. Yes. I don't know when that's going to be, but when 
that time comes, you'll know about it.
    The President. There you go. [Laughter] Well, listen, I hope you get 
the feeling for why we're here. We're here to explain a really 
interesting opportunity for our seniors. If you don't want to sign up, 
by the way, you don't have to. The Government is not making you do 
anything you don't want, but what the Government is doing is giving you 
a lot of opportunities. In the case of Virginia citizens, over 40 
opportunities to choose a program that suits your particular needs.
    And by that I mean there's all different kinds of structures for the 
programs. You might be taking this kind of drug or that kind of drug. 
You might be taking a lot of drugs a month or no drugs a month. And 
therefore, you can design a program that says, this is best for me.
    I strongly urge our fellow citizens to take a look. I want to thank 
those of you who are helping our seniors see what's available. And keep 
doing it up until May 15th. And even after May 15th. I repeat, if you're 
a son or a daughter and your parent is eligible for Medicare, do them a 
favor and do your duty by getting on medicare.gov or calling 1-800-
MEDICARE and find out what's available. Just get people to send the 
forms to you and look. Ask your parents questions, or ask your parents' 
doctors questions, or ask your parents' pharmacist questions about what 
program they need. If you're a senior and you're going to your local 
pharmacy, many of the pharmacists are helping our seniors design a 
program that meets their needs.

[[Page 706]]

    Is it worth it? I really think it is. If you're a poor senior, the 
Government will pay most of your drugs. We really don't want to be a 
society where seniors have to choose between food and medicine. It's 
worth it even if you're not in that income category because you'll save 
money.
    And saving money is good after you retire. It'll help you. If you're 
a son or a daughter--again, I repeat--do your duty. It will give you 
peace of mind to know that your mom or dad are taken care of.
    We worked hard to get this bill passed. It's a good piece of 
legislation. It's one of those times where people are going to be able 
to say, ``Well, the Government actually did a good thing for us.''
    And so I want to thank you all for coming. I particularly want to 
thank our panelists. I want to thank my fellow citizens who've come. I 
particularly want to, again, thank the vets--veterans who are here. Bob, 
thanks for your hospitality. Thank you for paying attention.
    May God bless you all. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 2:07 p.m. in the Richard J. Ernst Community 
Center at Northern Virginia Community College.