Henry Waxman: “today we should be voting on legislation that makes a good prescription drug benefit a part of the Medicare program. We…”

“today we should be voting on legislation that makes a good prescription drug benefit a part of the Medicare program. We should give people real help without gaps in coverage requiring seniors and the disabled to pay thousands of dollars for drugs out of their own pockets. Instead, what we have got is a bill that makes seniors buy private insurance to get drug coverage or go into HMOs where they might not be able to see their own doctor, a bill that lets insurance companies interested in their own profits decide what premium to charge and what drugs to put on their formulary, and a bill that will lead people holding the bag for most of their drug costs in far too many cases. This is not what seniors and the disabled want. This bill uses the cover of providing drug coverage, inadequate as it is, to make very dangerous changes in Medicare. This bill is based on the point of view that Medicare was a mistake, that we should have left it to private insurers to provide health care for our seniors. Well, if we had done that, we would have a lot more seniors today who would be uninsured and struggling with their medical bills. I do not want to turn the clock back on Medicare, I want to make it better. Much as I want prescription drug coverage for seniors, this inadequate drug benefit is not worth destroying Medicare. I do not want a Medicare where seniors and disabled people have to spend a lot more just to be able to stay in regular Medicare.”