Dick Durbin: “What I am suggesting, what we are suggesting on this side of the aisle, is not to foreclose the possibility that private…”

“What I am suggesting, what we are suggesting on this side of the aisle, is not to foreclose the possibility that private plans will continue to offer options under Medicare prescription Part D. What we are trying to add is something that was debated at length and rejected when the bill was written; that is, to allow Medicare as an agency, as a program, to offer its own prescription drug program for seniors, to bargain with pharmaceutical companies to find the lowest prices possible and then allow the seniors to make the choice: either take the Medicare approach or take a private approach. It gives more choices, not fewer.”