Chris Murphy: “I want to join Mr. Altmire in talking about this bill is great for seniors as well. Four years ago this House passed an…”

“I want to join Mr. Altmire in talking about this bill is great for seniors as well. Four years ago this House passed an expansion of the Medicare program to cover drugs. It should have done it a long time ago. The problem was when you finally did it under Republican control, it ended up benefiting the drug companies and insurance companies and really being a burden for many senior citizens. That ends in large part today with the passage of this bill. The underlying CHAMP Act today is going to finally allow seniors to be able to switch their plans when the plans change the drugs that they cover. It is going to begin to remove the doughnut hole, especially for the most vulnerable Medicare recipients out there. And it is finally going to get rid of those burdensome late penalties for the lowest of income seniors. This bill is undoubtedly a great bill for kids. This bill is also going to be a great step forward for the millions of seniors around this country who have been struggling with the Medicare part D program for the last 4 years.”