Robin Carnahan: “Next week marks the 37th anniversary of the day the Medicare program was signed into law. President Johnson traveled to…”

“Next week marks the 37th anniversary of the day the Medicare program was signed into law. President Johnson traveled to Independence, MO to sign the bill in the presence of Harry S. Truman, who began the fight for the Medicare program in 1945. I am sure that our effort today to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare is the type of common sense measure that President Truman would understand. Without this benefit, the Medicare program does not provide seniors with the security and protection its Founders intended. If you have expensive and debilitating surgery, Medicare will pick up virtually the whole cost. But Medicare will not pay a single penny for prescription drugs that would cure your condition and make the surgery unnecessary. That does not make sense. So today the Senate has an historic opportunity. People such as Annie Gardner from Columbia, MO will be watching us closely. She is an impressive 63-year-old, retired, mother of five adult children. But she suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure. She lost her health insurance and then could not afford her prescriptions. First she rationed her prescriptions by taking half the prescribed amount, even though she knew, as a former nurse, that this was a dangerous practice. Later she had to quit purchasing the drugs entirely because of other expenses, like fixing her car and paying increased taxes on her house. In 21st century America, no one should have to make this type of choice.”