Ron Lewis: “it is time to provide prescription drugs for our senior citizens. It is time to stop fussing and discussing and get down…”

“it is time to provide prescription drugs for our senior citizens. It is time to stop fussing and discussing and get down to business. We just passed recently in this House a Medicare Modernization and Prescription Drug Act of 2002. This Act provides immediate relief from high drug costs with prescription drug discount cards and immediately implements a program to assist low income beneficiaries with their costs. It supplies significant front-end coverage of drug costs from government coverage. 80 percent paid on the first $1,000. It saves seniors more on their drug costs than any other bill in Congress. It lowers pharmaceutical manufacturing drug prices by $18 billion with best price provisions, offers catastrophic protection, 100 percent coverage after $3,700 in drug costs, and it covers all costs except nominal co-pays for low income seniors up to 175 percent of poverty. Mr. Speaker, it is time that the two bodies come together and provide our senior citizens with prescription drug coverage. Now is the time. Today is the day and we should do it before this year is out.”