Political Quotes

“my first elective job was when Medicare came into being. I was the chairman of the board of trustees at a place called Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital. It is now called the University Medical Center. At that time it was the largest medical facility, hospital facility in Nevada. At that time 40 percent of the seniors who came into that hospital had no insurance, and children, other relatives, and friends had to sign a piece of paper before they came into the hospital that they would be responsible for the bills. Medicare changed all that. In 1965, when Medicare was created by Congress, it took 11 months after the bill was signed to put a new program in place. That was back in the days of slide rules and adding machines. That was, of course, before we had computers that had any ability to function. Today our senior citizens need help with soaring drug prices. They deserve the security of knowing they will be able to buy the medicines that can keep them alive and healthy. So today if we are telling our seniors to wait for that help and that security until the year 2006, I do not think they are going to accept that. It will be too late for millions of seniors, people who have worked hard all their lives to make this the greatest and richest country in the world--the only superpower left in the world. Certainly, if that, in fact, is the case, we should have a prescription drug benefit for senior citizens.”