Frank Pallone: “First, the gentleman pointed out that when he talked about these private insurance-only policies that the Bush…”

“First, the gentleman pointed out that when he talked about these private insurance-only policies that the Bush Republican plan is relying on, they are assuming that there is going to be a voucher of some sort that seniors are going to be able to take with them and go to buy this private insurance policy for prescription drugs. It is illusory. It is not going to happen. The reason is very simple, which is that insurance companies do not provide benefits, they insure against risk. We know that almost every senior is going to have to use prescription drugs, so it makes sense to put it as a benefit under the existing Medicare program rather than look at it as some sort of risk. Insurance companies are not going to provide coverage when they know that every senior would actually benefit and take advantage of the plan. That is why these insurance policies were not sold in Nevada and why they will never be sold anywhere else. The second thing is that the Bush Republican plan is sort of a cruel hoax.”