OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Medicare Card Provides Great Savings

Date: May 19, 2004
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Senior Citizens Entitlements and the Safety Net Health Insurance


MEDICARE CARD PROVIDES GREAT SAVINGS

(Mrs. CAPITO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, seniors throughout West Virginia are learning about potential savings on their prescriptions because of recent reforms to Medicare. No matter what critics may say, it is very easy to find out information about the new prescription drug card. Just ask Ann Brown, one of my constituents.

I worked with Ann. We went on line together. And she was able to see very easily what her savings would be by going onto the Medicare.gov website.

But Ann is not alone. A senior living in Charleston, West Virginia in a 25304 zip code who takes Fosamax for osteoporosis, Zocor for cholesterol, and Nexium for acid reflux can save $170 a month by using a Medicare-endorsed cards, which is a savings of over $2,000 a year. That is a real savings.

Why are they saving? Because the competition and buying power of over 40 million seniors across the country is driving down the cost of prescriptions.

Beginning on June 1, seniors will begin to realize these significant savings, and through the Medicare-endorsed prescription drug card, they will see that this benefit is significant, meaningful and hits the bottom line.

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