Michael Burgess: “unlike the gentleman from Georgia, I was not involved in medicine when Medicare was passed back in 1965. It was a good…”

“unlike the gentleman from Georgia, I was not involved in medicine when Medicare was passed back in 1965. It was a good program that was passed to help seniors with their surgery costs and their medical costs if they were hospitalized, but there was an important omission; and now this Congress almost 40 years later, almost 4 decades later, stands on the brink of correcting that deficiency that started in 1965. Seniors to this day have no comprehensive drug benefit, an omission from the original Medicare passed in 1965. On a daily basis, I saw how this impacted my patients. I would have patients who could not afford the medications that I prescribed, patients who would split pills or take a smaller dose. Medicare would cover the cost of the doctor visit, but because of this hole that was left in the program, which could only be classified as a typical government approach, they would often be unable to follow my recommended course of treatment if prescription drugs were involved due to a lack of coverage. This President and this Republican Congress have had the courage to stand up and do what is right by correcting this oversight by helping millions of American seniors pay for their prescription drugs. This bill gives seniors purchasing power to meet their prescription drug needs and cover their health costs. The prescription drug discount card will reduce the cost of prescription drugs by as much as 25 percent.”