Henry Waxman: “today the House should be considering a Medicare prescription drug benefit for all America's seniors and disabled…”

“today the House should be considering a Medicare prescription drug benefit for all America's seniors and disabled citizens that would be a benefit that is certain, a benefit that is affordable, and a benefit that helps Medicare beneficiaries with all of their drugs. It should not have large gaps in coverage as the Republican bill does. It should not let private insurance companies charge whatever premium they want and cover whatever drugs they want as the Republican bill does. It should be available in every part of the country, not only in areas where private insurers decide they can make a profit, and it should not cost seniors more if they live in Iowa instead of Virginia or California instead of Rhode Island. Most importantly, it should be a part of the Medicare program, just as dependable as the rest of the Medicare is for seniors and disabled people today. The Republican bill fails all of these tests. It makes promises on the one hand and then takes them away when we read the fine print. It claims to give special help to America's low-income seniors so that they can afford to pay for the prescription drug program, but then it makes seniors subject to a detailed and invasive assets test before they can get help.”