Washington, D.C. - Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma) led 20 of her Democratic women colleagues on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in protesting against Republican plans to dismantle Medicare - in particular, how woman will be negatively affected by efforts to privatize the system.

“American women comprise the majority of Medicare recipients and deserve a prescription drug benefit that is affordable, reliable and comprehensive, not a privatization scheme that leaves senior citizens with an insecure financial future,” said Rep. Woolsey.

The following are Rep. Woolsey’s words as written:

“Mr. Speaker, it feels like déjà vu all over again. Here we are, again, discussing ways to help seniors afford the prescription drugs that they need. And once again, the majority insists on a sham proposal that gives seniors nothing more than a false sense of security.

“I’m here today, with a number of my female colleagues, to remind everyone that as we debate proposals to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, the decisions we make will overwhelmingly impact our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and aunts.

“Women are living longer than ever, and longer than men-this is good news. However, the poverty that many women experience during their final years is certainly not good news.

“There are several reasons women’s ‘Golden Years’ are not so golden. While most women have worked their entire lives, a good portion of this work was not in the paid workforce. You don’t earn a pension for time spent caring for children or elderly parents.

“When many of our mothers and grandmothers were in the workforce, they were denied equal pay for equal work. Some worked only part time, trying to balance the responsibilities of their jobs and their families. As a result, they’ve made less over their lifetimes-and now their monthly social security benefit is smaller.

“These women deserve financial stability, and still, the republican prescription drug proposal denies them the security that comes with knowing that they can afford to pay for their medical care.

“Not only will the Majority’s plan not help senior women, it will actively hurt them. The thinly disguised attempts to push Medicare beneficiaries into HMOs will create more instability. I’m not speculating, I’ve watched it happen in my district.

“Just a few years ago, the Health Plan of the Redwoods, a small HMO that served my constituents in Marin and Sonoma counties went bankrupt, even after limiting services and physician payments. This bankruptcy interrupted care for a number of my constituents, and we shouldn’t force Medicare beneficiaries to accept the same kind of instability in exchange for a prescription drug benefit.

“The Republican plan also ignores the proverbial ‘800 pound gorilla in the room’-the astronomically high prices of prescription drugs. Take a minute and think about the reason our senior women can’t afford prescription drugs. It’s because prescription drugs are expensive!

“To me, it’s good old-fashioned common sense that we should take steps that address the root of the problem and find ways to reduce these prices.

“But the majority apparently doesn’t enjoy the same common sense that my democratic colleagues and I do. Their plan specifically forbids the Secretary of Health and Human Services from negotiating to lower prescription drug prices. Private insurance companies must negotiate on their own, with far less bargaining power.

“The Veterans Administration has proven that negotiating can result in lower prices, but the republicans have once again proven that they care more about the bottom lines of pharmaceutical companies than the bottom lines of senior women.

“Many older women have no financial security, but there’s one thing more dangerous: a false sense of security. Millions of women will read the newspapers and be elated to learn that there is now a Medicare prescription drug benefit.

“But imagine the surprise of the typical elderly woman when she learns that her so-called ‘benefit’ will require her to pay $4,000 of the first $5,000 in annual drug expenses. And that she’s expected to pay a monthly premium while Medicare gives her no help covering several thousand dollars of prescription drug expenses.

“Frankly, I find it shameful that the majority claims they’re delivering a drug benefit to seniors, when in reality, the plan will cover only a small portion of their expenses…and, it will actually outlaw practical steps to reduce these expenses in the first place. I dare my republican colleagues to tell their mothers what they’re doing to Medicare.

“After a lifetime of hard work, both in and out of the home, our mothers and grandmothers deserve better that this fraudulent plan the Republicans are pushing. We can do better and we should pass a prescription drug proposal that is better.”