Frank Pallone: “Absolutely. And I mentioned this noninterference clause, and I will mention it again. Before I do that, just quickly, I…”

“Absolutely. And I mentioned this noninterference clause, and I will mention it again. Before I do that, just quickly, I know we have spent a lot of time tonight, not only us but our Democratic colleagues earlier this evening, talking about what is wrong with the Republican plan. Maybe we should quickly explain what our alternative is, and the gentleman talked about it in terms of the price. We are saying forget about all this nonsense of changing Medicare and privatizing Medicare. Forget about all this nonsense about having to go to an HMO to get your prescription drugs. Just take the same Medicare program that has been so successful and add a prescription drug benefit in the same way that we added a few years ago a program under part B that pays for your doctor bills. In other words, without getting too complicated, Medicare part A pays for your hospitalization. Medicare part B is a program where you pay a certain amount of money per month for a premium, and when you go to your doctor there is a $100 deductible for the whole year, and 80 percent of the costs of your doctor bill is paid for by the Federal Government and 20 percent is paid for by you. Very simple program. You pay a small premium, 80 percent of the costs by the Federal Government, 20 percent co-pay by you, a $100 deductible which is not much. You might go through that on your first doctor visit. What we are saying is do the same thing with the prescription drug benefit.”