Lieberman Urges Seniors to Read Warning Label on Bush Medicare Plan
In his State of the Union speech, President Bush said he wanted to provide a prescription drug benefit for seniors. Everyone applaudedafter all, here in Connecticut alone, the price of prescription drugs has gone up nearly 9 percent over the past year. Seniors who depend on those drugs to live healthier lives desperately needed relief.
But then came the asterisk. And it was a big one. The real benefit would be offered only to seniors who moved out of traditional Medicare and into private, managed care programs. President Bush was saying that seniors had to give up their choice of a doctor in order to get the drugs they have no choice but to take
Well, seniors saw right through the proposal. They said, 'This is a ploynot a plan.' They wanted Medicare strengthened and modernizednot destroyed.'
That's like a shopping coupon that says, in big letters, '$50 off,' and then, in tiny print, 'off the next $1,000 purchase you make.'
And the last paragraph of fine print might be the worst of all. Under the new proposal, seniors could be stuck in a revolving door. Your mother's doctor - and my mother's doctor -- might prescribe her one drug this year, only to find it isn't covered next year. That's just wrong. Seniors need and deserve a drug plan that gives them stable and reliable coverage year after year.
We need to deliver a drug benefit. But we need to do it right. America's seniors should not be forced to settle for a half-baked plan just because they're hungry for the medicines they need to keep them alive and well. It's time for a real solutionand that's what I intend to fight to provide.