| WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Congressional leaders
today joined hundreds of seniors to demand lower prices for prescription
medicines and a drug benefit under Medicare that is voluntary and affordable.
Six buses carrying seniors arrived on Capitol Hill in time for the Senate
debate on a prescription drug bill. Seniors traveled through New
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland on the Roll Back Drug Prices!
Patriots Bus Tour. The House passed a sham drug company-backed Republican
prescription drug plan last month.
“You
are here to remind us that homeland security is not just about protecting
our borders but about protecting the health and financial security of senior
citizens and persons with disabilities and their families. You patriots
who have ridden the bus today represent many more patriots across the country
who want Congress to act to meet their needs, not protect the greed of
the pharmaceutical companies,” Schakowsky said.
Ray
and Gaylee Andrews of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, who pay $12,600 annually
for prescription drugs to survive, traveled to Washington to demand relief.
Both are in their seventies and suffer from multiple illnesses including
diabetes, emphysema, arthritis, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and
other serious ailments.
“You
have been waiting a very long time for an affordable, comprehensive Medicare
drug benefit. You should not have to wait any longer,” Schakowsky
said.
Medicare
beneficiaries -- seniors and people with disabilities -- are the heaviest
users of prescription drugs, yet there is no outpatient drug benefit in
Medicare to help them pay for the prescriptions they need.
-
Seniors
account for 43 cents of every dollar spent in the US on prescription drugs.
-
Medicare
beneficiaries spend, on average, more than $1,000 per year out-of-pocket
on prescription drugs.
-
Twenty-seven
percent of Medicare beneficiaries do not have any prescription drug insurance.
Schakowsky,
who signed an online petition, www.fairdrugprices.org,
calling for affordable and voluntary prescription drug benefit through
Medicare, urged seniors and persons with disabilities to use this and other
measures to ensure that their voices are heard.
The
Roll Back Drug Prices! Patriots Bus Tour is sponsored by USAction
and cosponsored by OWL: the
Voice of Midlife and Older Women, Families
USA, and Campaign for
America’s Future. USAction is the nation’s largest consumer organization,
with three million members in 33 affiliates. USAction and its affiliates
are leaders in efforts to win quality affordable health care, consumer
protections, and better public schools. |
