U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), chairman of the Democratic Health Care Task Force, will talk with seniors on Saturday, March 20th about the new prescription drug law passed by Congress. The New Jersey congressman is hosting a town hall forum to answer any questions about how the new law will affect senior's Medicare, PAAD and Senior Gold coverage.

Pallone will show seniors an informative 13-minute video on th e law, hosted by former news anchor, Walter Cronkite. The video features segments of an interview with Mildred Fruling, a resident of Edison and a constituent of Pallone's, in which she discusses the high cost of her prescription drugs. The video was produced by Families USA, a non-profit, non-partisan organization focused on providing high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

Last year, the Republican controlled Congress passed and President Bush signed into law a complicated prescription drug law that will privatize Medicare, force seniors to leave trusted doctors and hospitals, leave a huge gap in coverage, fail to lower drug prices and provide no guaranteed benefit or premium. To try and sell seniors on the new law, the Bush Administration has recently begun airing new taxpayer-funded commercials that inaccurately hype the new law's benefits. Pallone and his Democratic colleagues in the House are fighting to repeal the Republican plan and replace it with what they promised--a prescription drug benefit that is voluntary, guaranteed, available to all and provided as part of the Medicare program.