A survey was just done a few days ago that said voters trust private plans over Government to provide health benefits by a margin of 54 to 34, when it comes to providing medical and pharmaceutical benefits. So the American people are used…

The way we control costs within the Medicare system is through price controls dictated by the Federal Government. There are a whole host of problems we run into all the time with the uneconomic decisions, in many cases, by CMS--which is…

I see that you have a cost share of up to 70/30. I do not have that. I was just looking at the summary you provided, so I don't know whether there is no cost share for lower income or how the cost share works. All I know is it is up to…

another concern I have--and it is not a concern with the bill; it is just the marketing of the bill--is to suggest that their plan will move forward immediately. One of the comments made was that the plan before us does not take effect…

Take a look at this letter. It is very clear that the reason these plans left was that we set the growth rate for Medicare HMOs at one-fifth the growth rate of the traditional Medicare Program, and obviously they couldn't continue because…

It is provided through an intermediary, which is the exact same delivery mechanism of the fallback plan in this bill.

I hear often from many on the other side of the aisle that the Republican Party is the party of big corporations and corporate bailouts: This is a $66 billion, big corporation bailout being offered by Members on the other side of the…

What I said in several speeches is as follows: Where there is competition, there are like classes of drugs. They use the exclusion, they use a formulary to exclude or drive down prices. If you have 10 arthritis drugs, they pick two or…

if the Senator wants to focus on the poorest of the poor, he should leave the assets test in place because that is exactly what it does. It says that you have low income and low assets. So we have, in fact, covered exactly what the Senator…

I understand the point which the Senator from New Mexico is trying to accomplish. We do this in Pennsylvania. We do not have an asset test for our PACE Program. If you asked anybody up there now, Pennsylvanians dealing with this PACE…

Yes, I do. I say that because there has been a lot of work that has been done since then. According to many legal scholars I have talked with, they still believe Canada has that ability to continue to steal licenses and give those patents…

I was not in any way suggesting you, individually, with respect to pharmaceutical companies. I was suggesting the amendment is very damaging to that research. The Senator mentioned we subsidized through NIH research, as we do a variety of…

if a drug is shipped from outside of Canada to Canada for resale in the United States, does that go through the same handling that the Senator from North Dakota has discussed?

I believe that this change would be an important tool for airports, which could benefit from the option of using the funds they receive more effectively. According to information provided to me, this change, if implemented at Pittsburgh…

I rise to join my colleague Mrs. Lincoln of Arkansas to reintroduce bipartisan legislation aimed at improving long-term care health and rehabilitation options for Medicare beneficiaries, and also assisting family caregivers. We all…

this is an amendment that attempts to close a big loophole that may get huge. This is an amendment that deals with the problem that was identified in this Business Week article having to do with MCI-WorldCom now coming out of bankruptcy…

America is distinguished internationally as a land of religious freedom. It should be a place where people should not be forced to choose between keeping their faith and keeping their job. That is why I am joining with Senators Kerry…

I rise today to engage the distinguished chairman of the Finance Committee in a colloquy regarding welfare benefit plans in relation to title VII of S. 476. Employee Welfare Benefit plans, regulated under ERISA, are employer-sponsored…

Most of all, I thank my colleague from Connecticut, Senator Lieberman, who has been a faithful partner--to use a play on words--a faithful partner in putting this initiative together. We have worked together closely with the President, who…

much has been made about deficits. I just want to know what the Senate has accomplished today--I should argue, what the Democrats have tried to accomplish. As you can see from these charts, this is a list of the Democratic amendments that…

I thank the Senator. I gave her an opportunity to answer, and I have a couple more questions. No. 1, you suggested that this procedure was extreme. Does the Senator know the most recent Gallup polls--the polls consistently have shown that…

So you believe if this legislation passes outlawing partial-birth abortion, no late-term abortions would be available?

Yes. The Senator from New York said that the women she had in her office who had late-term abortions--you characterized it that they would be ``forced to carry their children to term'' if this bill passed. Do you stand by that statement?

I think most Americans would like the law to be more toward her direction than where it really is. The law is pretty clear--Roe v. Wade and the companion cases--that in fact the right to an abortion is, in America today, at any time for…

just to reiterate, I do not believe we should support the motion to commit. As I stated before, this is a piece of legislation we have had on the Senate floor. This is the fifth debate on the floor of the Senate. The Judiciary Committee…