Political Quotes

“on December 8, 2003, President Bush signed the Medicare drug benefit act into law. At the signing, the President hailed the law as the greatest advance in health care coverage for America's seniors since the founding of Medicare. Here we are 2 years later, less than a month before the program begins, and so far the benefit as it relates to the consumer, i.e. the senior citizens, the 42 million senior citizens across this country, is an absolute failure. It has failed because my colleagues on the other side who wrote this bill refuse to adhere to the number one rule of any business, which is that the customer comes first. And that customer in this case is senior citizens. This bill was never designed with senior citizens in mind. It was designed with the pharmaceutical industry and the private insurers in mind, who are making on average $130 billion to $132 billion over the next 10 years in more profits than they would have made had this bill not been in place. Senior citizens all over this country, regardless of district, regardless of region, regardless of income, regardless of education are all saying the same thing, that the bill is too complex. Part D, as it relates to prescription drugs, is way too complex. This is a case where simplicity trumped choice. We have given them so much choice, it is so complicated that nobody can figure out how to get the ``benefit'' of the prescription drug.…”