Medicare

MEDICARE -- (House of Representatives - November 15, 2005)

(Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 40th year of Medicare. Two years ago, the 108th Congress passed significant legislation that filled in a missing link in Medicare. That missing link was the missing part of prescription drugs.

Significant changes in the Medicare program are going to result in more services, more coverage, and more responsiveness from a program that, quite frankly, no longer lived up to what it needed to do, which is taking care of our seniors in a timely fashion, allowing them access to prescription drugs on a timely basis.

Mr. Speaker, a lot of people are complaining that there are too many plans and it is too complex. Two years ago we heard the opposite, that not enough plans would show up, and that it would be a default position that would only be offered to Medicare beneficiaries.

The situation is complex because health care is complex, but these are important decisions. I urge people over this holiday season coming up to sit down with their mothers and fathers, to sit down with the Medicare beneficiaries in their families and help them work through this process. I think we will find this to everyone's betterment.

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