Nancy L. Johnson: “I rise with pride and pleasure to recognize this June 1 as the first time in history that the seniors of America have…”

“I rise with pride and pleasure to recognize this June 1 as the first time in history that the seniors of America have had the opportunity to purchase a Medicare drug discount card as the first step, but only the first step, in reducing the cost of their prescription drugs. My colleagues have heard a lot here tonight. We have heard some very sharp things from the speaker who just preceded me. But listen to this: this is a widow in my hometown of New Britain who takes Zithromax; and because of this discount card at a local pharmacy in New Britain, instead of paying $46.50 for her Zithromax, she will now pay $39.44. She takes Nystatin. Instead of paying $35 for Nystatin, she will now pay $15 for Nystatin. And so it goes. One of the other drugs she takes costs $40 and now will cost $11.50. Mr. Speaker, this widow for whom every dollar is precious will save $730 on her prescription drugs every year, including this year. Now, that may not be a lot to my colleagues, but for someone spending $2,000 on drugs a year, a little over $2,000 on drugs a year, that is a lot. That is 29 percent, almost 30 percent, of her drug costs. So this is a good day for seniors, and I and my colleagues are going to talk about a lot of the things we have been told tonight about this prescription drug program. But we are here to say, you be the judge.…”