The Democratic Radio Address to the Nation

Federal News Service July 17, 2004 Saturday

HEADLINE: THE DEMOCRATIC RADIO ADDRESS TO THE NATION

SPEAKER: REPRESENTATIVE JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D-IL)

BODY:

REP. SCHAKOWSKY: Good morning. I'm Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky from Illinois. This week I met a woman named Catherine Easterling. Catherine is 69-years-old and her regular prescription drug regimen includes nine different medications and totals nearly $2,600 per year. Her medications range from A to Z: Albuterol, an inhaler, to Zetia for cholesterol. So when Republicans passed the new prescription drug law last November, seniors like Catherine were hopeful that Congress had finally listened to them. Unfortunately, this program is a false promise of assistance.

For years the Veteran's Administration has negotiated with pharmaceutical companies to provide drug discounts to the men and women who have served our country in uniform. But under the Republican-passed Medicare bill, the federal government is prohibited from negotiating on behalf of the 41 million Americans who are enrolled in Medicare. Instead, the bill leaves seniors and people with disabilities with high and escalating out-of-pocket costs and a huge gap in coverage.

The prescription drug cards that are the first step of this new plan have not provided the savings that were promised. The Medicare website is very confusing and has even provided wrong information about the availability, pricing and benefits of these cards. And because the Republican law allowed drug companies to increase prices significantly before discounting them, in many cases prices are no lower and in some cases are even higher than they were before the law passed. On top of that, a government document uncovered this week confirms that the new law will cause employers to reduce or eliminate prescription drug benefits for 3.8 million of their retirees. Once these retired workers lose their employer-sponsored drug benefits, they'll have no choice but to participate in the more meager discount plan offered under the Republican law. That doesn't sound like the benefit our seniors were promised. Unfortunately, the law is so flawed that there is no hope of fixing it. For the sake of our seniors and for people with disabilities, we must scrap this bill entirely and start fresh.

Several months ago, House Democrats introduced a bill that would being to repeal and replace the Republican drug law. Our bill would lower drug costs for seniors and people with disabilities by creating a voluntary drug benefit under Medicare. Medicare would be required to use its bulk buying power to negotiate lower drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture them. Those lower prices would then be passed along to seniors. This is a vital step toward creating a defined, affordable, guaranteed prescription drug benefit under Medicare. Sadly, the Republicans have blocked action on our proposal.

This week, we introduced a measure that would force the Republican leadership to bring our bill to the floor. Democrats are moving forward in our fight to provide a real drug benefit for our seniors because an issue this critical deserves a fair vote just as America's seniors deserve a fair price for their prescription drugs.

I'm Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. Thank you for listening.