Deborah Koff Ross: “We have primarily tonight talked about the Medicare prescription drug benefit, or the lack of it, under the Republican…”

“We have primarily tonight talked about the Medicare prescription drug benefit, or the lack of it, under the Republican prescription drug plan, but this 1,100-page bill, which they have not even allowed us to see yet, has other provisions in it that I think are worth noting, two primarily. One is that it increases part B deductibles for seniors in 2005, and then they will be indexed to grow based on part B expenditures for each year thereafter. They are going to increase part B deductibles. That is nothing more than a tax on sick seniors. Secondly, a lot of seniors rely on oxygen to stay alive in their home and hospitals beds, and they are getting those things now through a local supplier. They have the freedom to choose. This is going to be put out for competitive bidding. Competitive bidding. That means that if your oxygen machine breaks or you have an ice storm, and you have to have a portable tank, and your supplier may be someone that lives 5 or 6 hours away, that is a serious issue. This bill has a lot more problems than simply the lack of a prescription drug benefit. But I will close, Mr. Speaker, by simply saying this: If seniors cannot afford the first $2,200 worth of medicine, tell me how they are going to afford the next $2,844? Because that is the gap. From $2,200 to $5,044 they are stuck paying the monthly premium of around $35, but they get no help at all. They are footing the bill entirely on their own. And that is wrong.”