Chuck Grassley: “on Medicare--and I know the debate here is not about Medicare, but Senator Kennedy spoke to one part of the new…”

“on Medicare--and I know the debate here is not about Medicare, but Senator Kennedy spoke to one part of the new prescription drug program to which I wish to make reference. He referred in his remarks to the dual eligibles. He spoke about a problem that is real--the problem of signing up people who were dual eligibles into the new Medicare Part D prescription drug program. I do not find fault with his explanation. I will say, however, that our committee which has jurisdiction over this, the Senate Finance Committee, has been working with Secretary Leavitt and Administrator McClellan of CMS to work through these problems. They pointed out seven problems they have identified. They have assumed responsibility for those problems, and they are giving us a program to work through those problems so they will not be repeated and enrollment will by easier and work more smoothly. But the Secretary has told us about dual eligibles, that with 50 different States having 50 different ways of handling dual eligibles, frankly, merging the information technology system at the Federal level with the information which came out of 50 different States has been difficult to do. Several of us in the Senate knew this was going to be a problem in 2003. That is why, in the Senate bill, along with the White House, we wanted to leave the dual eligibles just as they were--covered by Medicare and Medicaid.…”