Sherrod Brown: “my House Republican friends have managed to come up with a prescription drug bill that is even less generous and even…”

“my House Republican friends have managed to come up with a prescription drug bill that is even less generous and even more destructive to Medicare than last year's exercise. Under this year's bill, Medicare as we know it ends in 7 years. In 7 years, Medicare would be replaced by a voucher to cover part of the premium for health insurance. Let me repeat that. Under the Republican plan, Medicare would no longer provide guaranteed benefits in spite of their talk about more choice. It would instead give seniors a defined contribution voucher. So much for the Medicare entitlement. So much for guaranteed benefits for America's elderly. So much for the choices that matter. Choice of hospital, we have that today. Choice of physician, we have that today. Under the Republican plan, their voucher scheme would give seniors the choice, the choice, to enroll in whatever HMO happens to set up shop temporarily in their neighborhood. That is not the kind of choice seniors, who now can choose their doctor, who now can choose their hospital, it is not one-size-fits-all, it is seniors have full choice, it is not the kind of choice that seniors have today. The Republican bill is a privatization bill. It is not a drug bill. It is an affront to seniors who depend on Medicare and to taxpayers whose money will be wasted paying off private insurance health plans, paying off HMOs in order to get them to participate in this Republican big insurance company, big drug company program.”