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CHICAGO,
IL – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the Energy
and Commerce Committee, said “shame” on William Novelli, Executive Director
of AARP, for endorsing a sham bill that would give drug companies more
than $130 billion and seniors a plan that will undermine the future of
Medicare, do little to reduce the price of drugs, and cost millions of
senior more than they pay now for prescriptions.
AARP’s
Novelli wrote to Congress in July that his organization is prepared to
“oppose” final Medicare prescription drug legislation if it contains means
testing, privatization and a large coverage gap. Yet today, he
endorsed a bill that fails to meet the principles he spelled out in his
letter to Congress four months ago. The endorsement was made before
the bill was written.
“Shame
on William Novelli, AARP’s Executive Director, for endorsing a bill that
violates all the major principles his own organization said were required
to gain their support for a Medicare prescription drug bill,” Schakowsky
said.
Schakowsky
added, “You think he would have learned from AARP’s experience in 1989
when they endorsed the catastrophic health bill only to find seniors chasing
Congressmen down the street until that bill was repealed. This bill
is a disaster and his members and all seniors are smart enough to figure
that out. AARP’s leadership will pay a price, as will members of
Congress who vote for this sham prescription drug bill.”
“William
Novelli not only endorsed a sham prescription drug bill before the ink
was dry, he got on board before the pen stopped writing,” Schakowsky concluded. |
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