The complaint I hear most often from seniors is how difficult it is to pay for prescription drugs. It is getting harder and harder for Americans, especially seniors, to afford the medicines prescribed by their doctors. In 1999, Tennessee led the nation in the number of prescriptions per patient per year. Something must be done.

On June 28th, the House passed the Medicare Modernization and Prescription Drug Act of 2002. This bill responds to the nationwide problem of out-of-control prescription drug spending by providing a voluntary, comprehensive prescription drug benefit for all seniors. For as little as $35 a month, seniors will be able to choose among plans to find what works best for their prescription drug needs. And for our neediest seniors, this bill provides full coverage.

This bill also makes needed changes to Medicare to make sure that beneficiaries will continue to have access to high quality healthcare. These changes include:

• improved payments to doctors so that seniors will be more assured that doctors will be available to see them when they need care
• reduced regulatory and paperwork burdens for both doctors and patients so that physicians can spend more time administering care
• increased payments to community, rural and small urban hospitals
• outpatient copayments are reduced by $10 billion

Prescription drug prices are rising dramatically each year and it's time for Congress to offer relief for our seniors. I support a reasonable and workable prescription drug benefit that takes care of seniors in need and protects the current Medicare system.