C. W. Bill Young: “as one who represents the largest groups of senior citizens, older Americans who are on Medicare and Social Security, I…”

“as one who represents the largest groups of senior citizens, older Americans who are on Medicare and Social Security, I rise in support of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1, The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. This is the most important and comprehensive improvement to the Medicare program since it was established 38 years ago. For the first time, Medicare will provide prescription drug coverage for 40 million older Americans. It will provide lifesaving help for the millions of seniors who today forgo taking prescription drugs because they have no coverage and cannot afford them. It will allow seniors to take their full dose of medicine as prescribed rather than cut them in half or skip days to make the supply last longer. And it will eliminate the heart wrenching decisions many seniors must make over whether to buy food or prescription medicine, because they cannot afford both. One of the reasons Americans are healthier and living longer is that prescription medication is available to control many chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes. Unfortunately, these medicines are oftentimes not available to those living on fixed incomes. This legislation changes that by creating a tiered benefit program that provides prescription drug coverage for everyone eligible for Medicare.”