Mike Levin: “the amendment which I will be offering is designed to ensure that the CBO estimate of 37 percent of current retirees who…”

“the amendment which I will be offering is designed to ensure that the CBO estimate of 37 percent of current retirees who now get their prescription drug coverage from their former employer and who will lose that coverage as a result of this bill will at least have the option of a prescription drug coverage under the Medicare fallback. There are a number of problems which have been identified with this bill. Some of them are significant problems which cause many of us, who very much favor having a prescription drug benefit available to our seniors, great pause before we support this bill. For instance, there is a so-called yo-yo effect in this legislation. Some have called it the revolving door effect. The problem there is that seniors who are offered two private plans in their service area must pick one of those private plans. They cannot use the Medicare fallback. There will not be a Medicare fallback with a guaranteed premium because if two or more private companies offer a prescription drug program, with whatever premium they decide upon, then the seniors in that service area must pick one of those two private plans.”