lamarsmith.house.gov

Lamar Smith
Contact: Christopher Chichester 202-225-4236


Smith Votes For Senior Prescription Drug Benefit

Washington, Jun 27 -

Almost 40 years since its creation in 1965, the Medicare program now requires important reforms. Many in the baby boom generation were in high school when President Lyndon Johnson signed it into law. Unfortunately, Medicare is still a health care program suited for the 1960’s, despite 21st century medical advancements.

Until 1997, Medicare didn’t cover annual breast cancer screening or prostate cancer screenings. Today, Medicare doesn’t include a prescription drug benefit to help seniors pay for medicines – some of which cost several thousand dollars each year.

Medicare continues to deliver health care to millions of Americans who contribute their hard-earned dollars through payroll and income taxes. These Americans count on the stability and longevity of the program for a secure retirement that should include prescription drug coverage.

A failure to take action to provide our seniors with relief from the high cost of their prescription drugs is a prescription for disaster.

Last week the House passed legislation I voted for that provides a prescription drug benefit to seniors enrolled in Medicare, while modernizing the program to reflect health care innovations.

The House bill includes a prescription drug benefit for seniors in both the traditional fee-for-service and integrated health plans. This includes a $250 deductible and covers 80 percent of the next $1,750 in drug costs.

In addition, seniors receive reductions in the overall cost of drug prices since the plans they enroll in have the group purchasing power to negotiate better prices from drug manufacturers.

It is a sad fact that some seniors pay extremely high drug costs – much higher than the average person. To help those seniors cover costs, the House bill includes catastrophic coverage by picking up 100 percent of all out-of-pocket drug costs over $3,500 for eligible seniors.

While this legislation is not perfect and should include more incentives for health care plans to compete, it is a step in the right direction. Long-term Medicare reform can be modeled on the federal employee system, which covers all federal workers and retirees. Private sector insurance and consumer choice are the hallmarks of this system.

The current federal employee system offers a wide variety of benefits and plan choices, and all have prescription drug coverage integrated into competing plans. And, unlike many proposals before Congress, it keeps the federal government out of your medicine cabinet and out of your doctor’s office.

Last week the U.S. Senate also passed legislation to strengthen and improve Medicare with a prescription drug benefit. It is my hope that Congress can negotiate a compromise and send it to the White House for President Bush to sign into law.