Jeff Flake: “I rise today to make this motion to instruct the conferees. We are dealing now with a prescription drug benefit to…”

“I rise today to make this motion to instruct the conferees. We are dealing now with a prescription drug benefit to Medicare that is simply uncontrollable in terms of cost. We believe that we ought to control that cost by means-testing the program. There is no reason in the world why we ought to be paying the prescription drug benefits for the wealthiest in society, the Bill Gates, the Barbra Streisands, the Ted Turners, the Warren Buffetts. Think about this: With this prescription drug benefit that is part of Medicare if this bill passes, we will be paying the prescription drug benefits for the wealthiest in society. Let me tell you what that means. The current drug bills are estimated to cost $400 billion over the next 10 years. That is $400 billion over the next 10 years to add this prescription drug benefit. If we look beyond that 10-year window into the next 10-year window, then it gets even uglier. From the years 2014 through 2023, that 10-year period after the first 10-year period, the drug benefit is projected to cost $772 billion. So $400 billion the first 10 years, $772 billion the next 10 years. That rapid growth rate will continue all the way through the year 2030.”