Political Quotes

“While the Senate has extended this to a greater number of seniors, unlike the Senate bill, this proposal ensures all seniors, even the so-called dual eligibles, will be part of this conference report. That certainly benefits my beneficiaries in Maine but 6 million nationally. Not only do seniors deserve a subsidy to help make prescription drugs more affordable, they should also have the benefit of choice when it comes to the coverage they purchase. Seniors should not be limited in their options for coverage, so that we ensure all seniors have a choice of at least two privately delivered drug plans. Options are important. They will have choice among prescription drugs as well. That is critically important because the choices will be there, and they will also have the benefit of a fallback to ensure this coverage and those options are available nationwide. Finally, I want to get to the one remaining point because of time limitations. We have heard so much about the privatization of Medicare, what this would do. This conference report unquestionably represents the end of the House bill's open-ended efforts to move Medicare towards a national privatized system through an untested, untried policy known as premium support that could have led to a patchwork quilt of uneven health care delivery that existed prior to the creation of the Medicare Program in 1965.”