Sylvester Turner: “we have had a lot said on this floor tonight, but what really is going to count is what is said when we get out there…”

“we have had a lot said on this floor tonight, but what really is going to count is what is said when we get out there talking to those seniors that we are trying to help here tonight. I traveled all over my district and collected pill bottles from those seniors, and I know how they feel, and they are going to ask some tough questions of us. If this plan passes, they are going to want to know and they are going to hand me that list of medicines they have been prescribed by their doctor and they are going to ask, are these medicines going to be covered under this plan? And if you give them an honest answer, you are going to have to say, I do not know, because you do not know. They are going to say, how much is the premium going to be for this plan? If you give them an honest answer, you are going to say, I do not know. That is going to depend on what the insurance company that is going to carry this plan is going to charge you. Then they may look at you and say, well, can I get this plan at my local pharmacy? You know the answer to that one. The answer is no. You are going to have to get it through mail order. And if you look at them again and they say, this does not sound like too good a program, how do I know that this program is going to be there? The answer is you do not know because those Medicare HMOs have not been there for our seniors.”