Chris Dodd: “I will read a pertinent passage because this is really the heart of this issue. I mentioned earlier, one-third of all…”

“I will read a pertinent passage because this is really the heart of this issue. I mentioned earlier, one-third of all retirees get coverage under the private employer-based plans. If CBO is right, almost 40 percent of retirees will lose their coverage under this bill, and employers would start dropping them because they do not get the subsidies, then I think we have to understand what the implications mean for a lot of people. I do not believe my colleagues intend this to be the case, but this is what is going to happen if we are not careful. The letter reads in part: If the Medicare drug bill before the Senate, S. 1, becomes law, 37 percent of retirees who now have employer-sponsored health benefits will lose that coverage. That is according to CBO. That's 4.4 million retirees that will be made worse off if S. 1, as drafted, is enacted into law. Such an act will represent an enormous and irreversible blow to the employer-based system that is the backbone of our nation's health care system.”