Joe Biden: “after many years of preparation and deliberation, and following weeks of debate and discussion on the floor this year…”

“after many years of preparation and deliberation, and following weeks of debate and discussion on the floor this year and last, we in the Senate are about to vote on a bill providing some prescription drug benefits for Medicare beneficiaries that is widely expected to pass. Seniors have been demanding prescription drug coverage for many years now. They need it and they deserve it, and I believe what we should be passing here today is a bill that will bring the American people the type of prescription drug benefit they have been seeking--one that is easy to understand and use, one that covers a substantial portion of all their costs, and one that is affordable. But to the many Medicare beneficiaries who will read the details of this bill and say, ``there isn't much in here for me and it will cost me more than I am now paying for drugs,'' I would say: I hear you. This bill is not enough, not nearly enough. I have a lot of concerns about this bill. There is no uniformity from region to region in the benefit package or beneficiary payments. Seniors in the East could be paying far higher premiums than their relatives in the Midwest. The drug plan relies on private insurance companies to provide a type of insurance policy that they have already said they are unwilling to sell. I am skeptical that these private plans will stay, and that could mean seniors will have no stability in their coverage.”