Opening Statement of the Hon. Mark Foley, a Representative in Congress from the State of Florida

Hearing on Integrating Prescription Drugs into Medicare

April 17, 2002

I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this very important hearing.

For years, thousands of seniors have gone without any form of prescription drug benefit. In some cases, it can cost up to $10,000 per month for the numerous types of drugs that a beneficiary may take. For those on a fixed income, this amount can mean the difference between medicine and food.

When Medicare was developed in 1965 it was designed to help seniors who were without health insurance. At the time, there were far fewer prescription drugs on the market and therefore there was not a need for a prescription drug benefit. However, times have changed and there are dozens of new prescription drugs being developed every year.

I strongly believe that, as part of our efforts to help the millions of Medicare beneficiaries who are currently suffering, we must implement a Medicare prescription drug discount card bill as soon as possible. This program, which will lead to a larger drug benefit, can be implemented more quickly than the full benefit and in the interim save seniors between 15 to 40 percent on drugs.

Again, Mr. Chairman, I commend you and Chairman Johnson for your outstanding work on this issue and I look forward to working with you to provide long overdue and critically needed help to our seniors.