Bill Clinton: “I have long championed a prescription drug benefit that would provide real prescription drug coverage for seniors and…”

“I have long championed a prescription drug benefit that would provide real prescription drug coverage for seniors and individuals with disabilities. Last year and again during this debate, I voted for proposals that provided a comprehensive, reliable benefit without gaps in coverage that force seniors to pay premiums even while they get no benefits in return. S. 1, the Grassley-Baucus bill that passed, however, contains serious shortcomings, including these large benefit gaps. So I must reluctantly oppose this legislation unless it is improved. I am particularly concerned that it poses a strong danger to significant numbers of New Yorkers. It leaves 37 percent of seniors who rely on their retiree drug coverage at risk of losing their employer coverage because of incentives in the bill for employers to drop coverage. It also leaves out 300,000 of New York's nursing home residents who rely on Medicaid and another 230,000 low-income New Yorkers who also rely on Medicaid because Medicare beneficiaries who are also eligible for Medicaid are excluded from receiving the prescription drug benefit that passed last night.”