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ask.heather@mail.house.gov
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In Washington DC
442 Cannon House
Office Building
Washington, DC
20515
202-225-6316 Phone
202-225-4975 Fax |
In Albuquerque
20 First Plaza NW
Suite 603
Albuquerque, NM
87102
505-346-6781 Phone
505-346-6723 Fax |  |
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Congresswoman Heather Wilson, First Congressional District of New Mexico
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| Adding Prescription Drugs to Medicare |
June 12, 2001 |
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Heather joined volunteers at the Palo Duro Senior Center last week to serve lunch
Dear Friends,
No senior should have to choose between buying their medicine and buying the groceries.
When we passed the budget this year we set aside $300 billion over the next 10 years to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. Now we`re getting down to the work of actually writing the law that will make it happen. Our goal is to bring a bill to the House floor for a vote by the end of July.
TODAY`S MIRACLE MEDICINES
Back when they started Medicare in 1965, prescription medicine was only about 1% of the cost of health care. Most of medical care was doctor`s bills and hospital visits. Many of the miracle medicines that help us to live longer, healthier lives just didn`t exist back then. And some of these miracle medicines are expensive. Prescription medicine is now about 15% of the cost of health care and lots of seniors in New Mexico just can`t afford their prescriptions.
We need to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. There are lots of different proposals on how best to do that. I`m not wedded to any particular bill, but there are some principals I`ll work from.
A prescription drug benefit should be available to every senior, but voluntary so that people who already have coverage -- like Veterans or people who have retirement plans from their employers -- are not forced to pay for something they already have earned in another way.
The government should give the most help to those who have low incomes and those who have high drug costs. There is some element of cost sharing in all of the plans. I`d like to see the most help go to those most in need.
CHOICES
And I think people should have choices. The government shouldn`t decide that seniors can get their medicine from only one provider. Whether you want to get your medicine from the pharmacy next to your doctor`s office or from a mail order firm so you don`t have to drive into town, you should be able to choose.
And finally, while some folks want to blame the drug companies for high prices, it`s a high risk business and we need to make sure that we don`t discourage the development of the next generation of miracles -- the cure for Parkinsons or Alzheimers -- by being too heavy handed with price controls on today`s medicines.
We got some good news this week from our budget analysts. They tell us that they think it is possible to provide a good benefit within the $300 billion we set aside in the budget.
We have two important hearings in the Health subcommittee I serve on this week. One is on modernizing Medicare and the second is one in a series we`ve been holding about adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. I`ll do my best.
Wish you were here,
Heather |
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