Deborah Koff Ross: “the bottom line, all this talk on the floor of the House of Representatives, the vote that is going to occur is going to…”

“the bottom line, all this talk on the floor of the House of Representatives, the vote that is going to occur is going to boil down to this, that in 2006 seniors are going to get a prescription drug plan written by the big drug manufacturers that requires seniors to pay out of their own pocket $4,020.25 out of the first $5,044. Let me repeat that. Seniors under this plan, which does not even start until 2006, are going to pay $4,020.25 out of the first $5,044. Contrast that to Members of Congress, the health insurance plan we have, and quite frankly, the health insurance plan that most people who are fortunate to have health insurance in America now is very similar. Members of Congress pay $1,261 on the first $5,044, with their insurance plan picking up the difference. So the Republican leadership thinks that they should only pay $1,261 on the first $5,044, but they want seniors, they want our mothers and grandmothers, to pay $4,020.25 on the first $5,044.”