Chris Dodd: “Let me briefly explain this amendment. I commend the committee. This bill does an awful lot for people who are really…”

“Let me briefly explain this amendment. I commend the committee. This bill does an awful lot for people who are really hurting. I want the chairman to know I strongly support his efforts. Those who are really hurting get real help with this bill. I commend the committee for focusing on that. I commend him for it. What this amendment does is a little different. We have all been talking about donut holes. People watching this debate may wonder what we are talking about, but the donut hole is in the plan when you reach a certain level of your costs of prescription drugs. Even though you keep paying the premiums of $35 a month, if your costs run somewhere around $4,500 to $5,800, during that period you are in the eye of the hurricane, and you do not get any help during that period. That is not true if you are below 160 percent of poverty. If you are below 160 percent of poverty, we will provide help to you even while you are in the donut hole. My amendment effects those in the donut hole who are between 160 and 250 percent of poverty. That is an individual who makes $22,000 a year or a couple earning $30,000 a year. These are people who are really hurting out there as well. They are not as desperately poor as those at 160 percent of poverty, but they are not much better off. But just in the donut hole, could we say that those people might get a 50/50 deal in the donut hole, between 160 and 250 percent of poverty?”