FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2003
Contact:  Marie DesOrmeaux
(202) 225-3772
 
Ross: Republican Rx Drug Bill Stinks!
Plan would abolish Medicare by 2010
 
(Washington, D.C.) Fourth District Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) issued the following statement on Friday after House Republicans passed H.R.1, the Prescription Drug and Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 at 2:30 am.  Earlier on Thursday, Ross joined members of the House Democratic Leadership, seniors, and “Stinky the Skunk” in pointing out the flaws in the Republican plan during a press conference on Capitol Hill, saying he wants seniors to know how this bill fails them: 

“The bill that House Republicans managed to pass early this morning in Congress is shameful – it falls far short of what our seniors need and deserve; a prescription drug benefit that would allow seniors to walk into the pharmacy of their choice, pull out their Medicare card and be treated just like they are when they visit the doctor or the hospital.  The Republican bill is a Band-Aid at best, and at worst; another false hope for our seniors.

“I have three problems with this bill.  For one thing, seniors will need an accountant to figure out the complicated formula.  Under the Republican plan, seniors would get no help from $2,000 to $3,500 they spend on prescription drugs.  If they can’t afford the first $2,000, how are they going to afford the next $1,500?  Republican Members of Congress just gave seniors a plan that would pay $980 of the first $3,500 in prescription drug costs, leaving them to pay $2,520.  These same Members of Congress have a plan that pays $2,800 of the first $3,500, leaving Congressmen paying only $700.  There’s something wrong with that. 

“The second problem I have with the Republican bill is that it’s a drug manufacturers’ plan, not a seniors’ plan.  The benefit is not a part of Medicare, so we lose the collective bargaining power of having 40 million seniors under one plan, the power to bring down the high cost of prescription drugs.  Last summer, a study I requested revealed that seniors in our district pay as much as 110 percent more for the five most popular drugs than they would pay in Canada, Europe, and Japan.  By splitting our seniors up into hundreds of private health plans across our country, we can expect the cost of prescription drugs to remain high.   

“But the biggest problem I have with this plan is that it completely privatizes Medicare by 2010.  Rather than truly modernizing Medicare to include prescription drug coverage for seniors, in 2010 we’re going to hand them a voucher and say, ‘Here you go, now go out and find yourself a health insurance policy.’ 

“There is a reason Medicare was created, there is a reason our seniors have worked hard and paid payroll taxes: so that their needs will be taken care of.  Is this how we take care of our seniors?  If not for the $350 billion tax cut, we could have taken care of them.  We could have been able to provide an affordable, meaningful prescription drug benefit.  This issue reveals that the debate in Congress is not about what it costs, but where our priorities lie.”


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