“These are common sense components of a plan that should give our seniors what they need and deserve,” Ross said.  “A number of plans are being considered in both the House and the Senate, and while I feel the focus on prescription drug coverage under Medicare is a good start, we still have a long way to go before we have a meaningful benefit, where seniors can walk into the pharmacy of their choice, pull out their Medicare card, and be treated just like they would when they go to the doctor or the hospital. 

“Under the Senate plan being considered, Medicare would only pay $1,692 of the first $5,800 of a recipient’s annual prescription drug costs.  Under the House plan, it they would only pay $1,100 of the first $5,100.  That’s not what I call affordable or meaningful, and I know our seniors deserve better.” 

Ross says the ideal system would keep prescription drug coverage under Medicare, without resorting to privatization.  “Under some of the current plans, Medicare would be totally privatized by 2010.  There’s a reason Medicare was created some 40 years ago.  We pay payroll tax all our lives trusting that our needs will be taken care of when we age.  Congress should seek to adequately fund Medicare so that it can provide for our seniors, not resort to privatization.” 

Ross’s outline of principles is as follows: 

The plan should include meaningful prescription drug benefits for seniors, not gimmicks that leave seniors picking up the tab. 
The plan should be a voluntary, but guaranteed part of traditional Medicare, not a privatized option that varies from region to region. 
The plan should give our seniors the freedom of choice when it comes to pharmacies. 
The plan should result in lower drug costs for seniors so they can afford to take their medicine and take it properly. 
The plan should not encourage employers to drop drug benefits from the coverage they now provide to retired workers. 
The plan should require Medicare to demand from the big drug manufacturers the same kind of discounts and rebates, to help offset the cost of the program, that the big drug manufacturers now provide to the big HMO’s and state Medicaid programs, and that many other countries like Canada and Mexico receive. 

Ross added that such a plan is unlikely given the budgetary limitations set by President Bush.  “The current budget only allows $400 billion dollars to be spent over the next decade on prescription drug coverage for seniors, and that’s why I voted against it.  I have urged Congress to modernize Medicare with a prescription drug benefit since my first day at our nation’s Capitol, and I have repeatedly been told that such a plan is too expensive.  Well, for the $350 billion dollars the President has spent on tax cuts for the wealthy, we could afford to provide prescription drug coverage for all of America’s seniors for the next 10 years.  I think spending money on a program that benefits our greatest generation is money well spent, and I will continue fighting until our seniors’ prescription drug needs are met.”