Jack Kingston: “it is time to revise and reform Medicare. It is time to move us away from a government oriented, a Soviet model of…”

“it is time to revise and reform Medicare. It is time to move us away from a government oriented, a Soviet model of socialism approach to health care for our senior citizens. We need a program that is light, a program that is solid, a program that is efficient, not one that is heavy with burdensome bureaucratic red tape. We need to have a prescription drug benefit. We need to have one that does not just blanket us all with a brand new entitlement, one that does not necessarily worry about Ross Perots or some retiree from General Motors who already is getting it anyhow. But we need to help the widow out there who is choosing between tamoxifen for her breast cancer and rent for her home. We want to help people stay independent. In 1965, when Medicare was conceived, the miracle drugs that are available to our seniors were not out there. They were not foreseen. Now we have drugs that enhance our life-style, that make us live longer and healthier and in less pain, and Medicare needs to adjust to this. That is what this bill is about that we will be voting on this week. I am confident that we can take the best ideas of Democrat Party, the Republican Party, the Independents and move it out of this body, combine it with those in the other body and come up with a plan that is best for our seniors.”