Sylvester Turner: “I just want to say when I heard the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen) talking about the issue that it is so very true…”

“I just want to say when I heard the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen) talking about the issue that it is so very true that private insurance companies are not the answer, and I think our senior citizens understand that. I think they understand full well that Medicare works, it has served them well, and the seniors that I talked to in August who had received these notices of cancellation, seniors that had signed up for these Medicare+Choice plans simply because they offered them some prescription drug coverage in addition to the regular Medicare coverage, those seniors understand that you cannot count on private insurance, and it is just as the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Berry) said a minute ago, the Republican plan offered by Governor Bush does not assure any senior what it is going to cost them, does not guarantee them what it is going to cover, does not tell them what the deductibles are, and it certainly does not promise them that it is going to be there because, as we have learned, these HMOs can pull out any time they want to. Our plan is understandable. We have already laid out the cost to seniors. It is going to be available to everybody on a volunteer basis. Seniors can get the prescription drug their doctor prescribes. And they are going to know that it will be there, not just today but tomorrow as well. Now, that is what our seniors need. The choice that Governor Bush was talking about is a choice of confusion.”