William Bryan: “I am now in my last days of serving the people of the State of Nevada as a U.S. Senator. It is a role in which I am…”

“I am now in my last days of serving the people of the State of Nevada as a U.S. Senator. It is a role in which I am proud and privileged to have had an opportunity to serve. I am also very proud of the opportunity I have had to serve as a member of the Finance Committee, the committee with jurisdiction over the Medicare program. Having said that, I am greatly troubled by this body's failure to take action on several fronts as it relates to Medicare. I am disappointed that we failed to act on Medicare coverage for prescription drugs as well as the proposed payment changes in the so-called BBA relief bill, a piece of legislation that deals with provider payment enhancements to those services and companies that provide service to Medicare patients. The impact of Medicare over the past 35 years cannot be overemphasized. Prior to enactment of Medicare in 1965, fewer than half the seniors in America had any kind of health care coverage at all. Today, as a result of Medicare's enactment, 99 percent do. As a result, health care for the Nation's seniors has been improved and the burden of health care costs for them has been greatly ameliorated. But a Medicare program without prescription drug coverage does not meet the promise we made to seniors in 1965.”