Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005

TAX RELIEF EXTENSION RECONCILIATION ACT OF 2005 -- (Senate - February 02, 2006)

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I came to the floor this afternoon to spend a few minutes speaking in support of the Bingaman-Rockefeller-Murray Medicare drug REPAIR amendment that we will be seeing this afternoon. I came to the floor to urge my colleagues to support this amendment so we can address the immediate crisis facing our most vulnerable citizens.

I wish we were here debating a real fix to the Medicare Modernization Act, but unfortunately the Senate leadership has placed a lot higher priority on tax cuts than on providing reliable access to prescription drugs for low-income seniors and the disabled, so we are here today debating that. I know the chairman of the Finance Committee was on the floor earlier talking about the relevance of this amendment, the Bingaman-Rockefeller-Murray Medicare drug REPAIR amendment, but this is the first piece of legislation that we have had on the floor since the rollout of the Medicare prescription drug bill. Offering this amendment on this tax bill is our only option.

What this amendment does is ensure that our low-income seniors and our disabled--who are often technically referred to as duals--are at least ensured of a 30-day supply of lifesaving drugs, regardless of any communication or data exchange problem. It simply ensures that States and pharmacies and beneficiaries who have had to provide coverage to those who have fallen through the cracks in this rolling out of the Medicare prescription drug bill receive just and fair reimbursement.

Finally, it will end the confusion facing any of our duals. And for any of my colleagues who have not been out in their States since January 1, I will tell you there is tremendous confusion and conflict and people are falling through the cracks and we need to end that confusion so they know whether, in fact, they qualify for assistance.

Because of the tremendous data and outreach problems, many of these so-called duals have been told they have to meet a $250 deductible before their plan is going to cover their prescription drugs. If they are eligible today for Medicare and Medicaid, they are assumed eligible at the drugstore.

I have listened to Secretary Leavitt and CMS Administrator McClellan reassure all of us that they are acting to fix these problems. I am here today to applaud their attention and their commitment and their recognition of the tremendous challenges out there, particularly for our duals, as this prescription drug rollout bill is occurring. I only wish they had listened last November when I offered an amendment to provide a 6-month transition and predicted the dire straits that we are now in before this was rolled out.

I will say they have been responsive since January 1. But all of the steps that have been implemented are worthless if there is no education of our pharmacists and our seniors, or if there is no aggressive oversight and enforcement. Saying that they are just going to work to ensure the plans honor their commitment is not the same as saying plans will be required by law to honor that commitment. It doesn't do a senior any good to be told we are going to hold plans accountable, and they still do not have any access.

There are a number of problems with this flawed structure, but I think it is critical that we address the

immediate crisis for those people who have very few options. If anyone on this floor today thinks this is fixed, or these problems are going to go away, I want them to know they are sadly mistaken. I have traveled around my home State of Washington since August. I am not hearing that things are getting any better. I have people come to forums that I am holding where I try to give them information, and every forum I have had, time after time, there are new problems, new challenges: pharmacists are falling through the cracks, doctors who don't know how to deal with their patients, long-term care facilities that are at their wits' end, and certainly the mental health advocates who are telling us we have people who could be in serious crisis very soon if we don't address these problems.

There is a lot of frustration. There is a tremendous amount of panic for these dual eligibles that they are being denied access to lifesaving drugs, and to low-income seniors, especially those in group homes, who can't afford the added burden of copayments. It is wrong for us to sit here and say this is going to get worked out. I think it is our responsibility to stand up today, at our very first opportunity, and make sure we fix this Medicare prescription drug plan.

This week, my Governor, as many Governors who have been facing this at home on the ground, joined with me in urging the Federal Government to fix this mess. I want to quote her. She said:

All we are asking is don't make these people worse off than they were.

Our Governor's office, as many Governors' offices, has been flooded with calls about this prescription drug plan. She says some of these people are telling her they would rather take their own life than deal with the situation.

I have sat in forums in my State where people have said that to me, to my face, as well. These are people with mental health problems, they are elderly, they are having trouble working through the system. It is too much for them. They cannot deal with the copayments for the first time--and that is not what our country should be about. It does not sound to me like things are getting better and the kinks are getting worked out.

Congress promised in 2005, they promised to people in this country access to affordable prescription drug coverage. It is clear they are not getting that today. We know these problems cannot be fixed through some kind of administrative action alone. We here in Congress have an obligation to act and not follow CMS.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and send a message to those who are living, literally, in fear today that Congress is not going to wait and we are going to do the right thing.

I do not agree that this is not the bill to deal with this issue. I wish we had another bill in front of us. I wish we had an actual fix in front of us. But we cannot wait to work through the next several weeks and then the budget process and everything else coming down the pike to deal with this issue. We are talking about real individuals in real communities who are not getting access to their prescription drugs because of the challenges that CMS is facing as this plan is rolled out, and we have an obligation to act.

I urge my colleagues to support the Bingaman-Rockefeller-Murray drug REPAIR amendment and get a fix in place so people's lives are not in crisis. We have an obligation to do this, and I urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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