Sherrod Brown: “should the Medicare program offer prescription drug coverage? What good is insurance if it covers the diagnosis, but not…”

“should the Medicare program offer prescription drug coverage? What good is insurance if it covers the diagnosis, but not the cure. Of course, Medicare should cover prescription drugs. Why can we not target coverage to just the lowest income seniors? I can think of several reasons why that is a bad idea. First, Medicare endures in this country because every American contributes to it and every American at the age of 65 will benefit from it. A third of all seniors, over 10 million seniors, lack drug coverage; millions more are barely insured; employers are dropping their retiree coverage and private health insurers are cutting back their prescription drug benefits. This is not an isolated or a status problem that can be solved in a piecemeal fashion. It is broad based and it is getting worse. Whether or not Medicare should cover prescription drugs should not even be a real question. If one believes this Nation benefits from helping seniors live in good health and above poverty, then Medicare should cover prescription drugs. But it is expensive to cover prescription drugs. Can our government afford it? We are the wealthiest Nation in the world. Our retirees are collectively responsible for our current prosperity. Their security and their well-being resonate across families, communities, and the Nation. We can afford to, and it is in our interests, to provide seniors health coverage that makes sense, and that means providing prescription drug coverage.”