Ralph Lee Abraham: “Medicare, that's what seniors and health care providers in Michigan talked about with me over the August…”

“Medicare, that's what seniors and health care providers in Michigan talked about with me over the August recess--Medicare. Whether it was prescription drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries, Medicare reimbursement restoration so that health care providers can continue to provide quality health care for beneficiaries, or reining in the excesses in this Administration's crusade to ferret out Medicare fraud and abuse, even where it does not exist, I have heard the message of my constituents, and that is that Medicare needs to be modernized, reformed, and refocused on providing the best health care possible for seniors and the disabled. Nowhere has the national debate on Medicare focused more clearly than on prescription drug costs. The increased reliance on prescription drugs in health care treatments in recent years means seniors are paying a much higher portion of their income on drugs. As new drugs come on the market that allow doctors to treat illnesses without surgery, or even allow them to treat illnesses for the first time, the result is that health care has shifted from inpatient hospital services for surgical treatment to outpatient care that utilizes more, better, and more specific drugs.”