Steve Rothman: “for seven years, I have been pushing and voting for a voluntary prescription drug benefit under Medicare. Such a plan…”

“for seven years, I have been pushing and voting for a voluntary prescription drug benefit under Medicare. Such a plan would give seniors access to the quality, affordable, life-saving medicines they need. Unfortunately, the final Medicare bill--written in secret by the very same Republicans who eight years ago shut down the federal government as part of their strategy to force Medicare to wither on the vine--does exactly the opposite of what it is supposed to do. Instead of providing seniors with a voluntary, guaranteed drug benefit, the bill provides no drug coverage until 2006, and then forces millions of seniors to pay more for drugs if they don't give up their doctor and join an HMO--HMOs that can raise premiums at will and will throw out seniors who get too sick. The bill is nothing less than an outrageous giveaway of taxpayer funds to the health insurance industry. A $12 billion slush fund in the bill will be doled out to insurance companies that offer privatized Medicare services and employers are given a $70 million windfall to maintain their retiree drug plans. These subsidies create a huge bias in favor of private plans. That's not competition, it's corporate welfare, and it's wrong. The Congressional Budget Office projects that when the drug benefit begins in 2006, the average senior will spend $3,155 annually on prescription drugs.”