President Calls on Congress to Complete Work on Medicare Bill
Remarks by the President on Medicare
Presidential Hall
Dwight D Eisenhower Executive Office Building
11:06 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. Good morning. Welcome
to the White House. I'm glad you're here. We're meeting at an
historic time, and the reason why is, after years of debate and
deadlock, the Congress is on the verge of Medicare reform. And that's
important. Prescription drug coverage for our seniors is within
reach. Expanded coverage for preventive medicine and therapy is within
our reach. More health care choices for seniors are within our reach.
Though a few difficult issues remain, the Congress has made
tremendous progress. And now is the time to finish the work.
(Applause.) The Congress needs to finalize legislation that brings our
seniors the best of modern medicine. And I want to sign that
legislation into law before the year is out. (Applause.)
And the point person for this administration in working with the
Congress to move the legislation along is Tommy Thompson, our
Secretary. He's done a fabulous job. (Applause.) If he looks tired,
it's because he's showing up early -- (laughter) -- and going to bed
late, working for the seniors of America.
I want to thank Tom Scully, who is the Administrator -- Scully is
the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. I
appreciate you coming. (Applause.)
We've got other members of my administration who are concerned
about the health of all Americans, including our seniors -- Rich
Carmona, the Surgeon General. Thank you, General. (Applause.) The
Head of the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, Julie
Gerberding. Thank you, Julie, for being here. It's good to see you.
(Applause.) The Director of the National Institutes of Health, Elias
Zerhouni. Dr. Zerhouni is with us. (Applause.)
We've got a lot of other important people here, too many to name.
But I have just come from a roundtable discussion with some seniors and
some people involved in the process, a corporate executive who is from
Caterpillar, who assures me that corporations have no intention of --
if there's a Medicare reform bill signed by me, corporations have no
intention to what they call dump retirees into a system they don't want
to be dumped into. And I appreciate that commitment by Rich Lavin.
Thank you for bringing that up.
I want to thank Jim Parkel, from Fairfield, Connecticut, who is the
President of the AARP, for being here. I appreciate my friend Jim
"Budda" Martin for being here today. He's very much concerned about
the health of our citizens. And thank you all, for coming. This is an
important moment, as I said.
You see, the stories we heard remind Tommy and me that seniors
depend upon Medicare, and that the Medicare program is a basic trust
that must be upheld throughout the generations. What we're talking
about is trust, that people trust their government to bring a modern
system of health to our seniors. We made a commitment at the federal
level to provide good health care for seniors, and we must uphold that
commitment. That's what we're here to discuss today -- how best to do
that.
Each of the seniors that we talked about -- talked to understands
that the system needs improvement, that Medicare needs to be
modernized. I'm determined to meet this responsibility.
And let me share some of the stories we heard right quick. Neil
LaGrow is with us. Neil, thank you. He takes 10 medications, about
$525 a month he spends. He pays for it all. Because of these costs,
he continues to work -- although I must say he didn't complain about
it. (Laughter.) He likes to work. We need our seniors working, by
the way, in terms of making contributions to our society. I'm not
talking about being on the factory floor for eight hours, but I am
talking about passing on values from one generation to the next, or
helping in different community activities as you see fit. It's a
really important contribution to our country. Neil does that. If he
gets some help with his prescription drug costs, that's going to make
his retirement a little easier. Isn't that right?
Seniors should be able to plan their retirement better. The best
way to do so is to make sure that they can afford the medicines
necessary to keep them healthy. That's what we're talking about in
this bill.
Joan Fogg is with us, from Richmond. She and her husband, Walter,
are on Medicare and they pay a goodly portion for drugs right out of
their own pocket. "When we think we're getting down on money, we go
ahead and cut the medication in half" -- that's what she said. "That's
not the way it should be, but we deal with it. We have to." Joan is
right, that's not the way it should be. That's why we want to
modernize the system. That's why we want to work better for all
seniors.
Most American seniors and people with disabilities are grateful for
the current Medicare system. Yet they understand the system has
problems. Our job is to address those problems. We should carefully
correct the problems. That's what we're elected to do. Medicare was
created at a time when medicine consisted mostly of house calls and
surgery and long hospital stays. Now modern medicine includes
preventative care, outpatient procedures, and at-home care. Life is
changing; Medicare is not.
Many invasive surgeries are now unnecessary because of miraculous
new prescription drugs. Most Americans have coverage for this new
medicine. Three-quarters of seniors have some kind of drug coverage.
But seniors relying exclusively on Medicare do not have coverage for
most prescription drugs and many forms of preventative care. This is
not good; it's not cost-effective medicine.
Medicare today will pay for extended hospital stays for ulcer
surgery, at a cost of about $28,000 per patient. And that's important
coverage. Yet Medicare will not pay for the drugs that eliminate the
cause of ulcers -- drugs that cost about $500 a year. So anytime you
talk about cost savings, there's an example of cost savings.
Medicare will pay many of the costs to treat a stroke, including
bills from hospital and rehab center, doctors, home health aides and
out-patient care. Those costs can run more than $100,000. And this is
essential coverage. Yet Medicare does not cover the blood-thinning
drugs that could prevent strokes, drugs that cost less than $1,000 a
year.
The Medicare system has many strengths. Yet it is often slow to
respond to dramatic changes in medicine. It took more than a decade
and an act of Congress to get Medicare to cover preventative breast
cancer screenings. It took 10 years, and then an act of Congress to
change the system. That's not a good system. Our seniors should not
have to wait for an act of Congress for improvements in their health
care. (Applause.)
The best way to provide our seniors with modern medicine, including
prescription drug coverage and better preventative care, is to give
them better choices under Medicare. If seniors have choices, health
plans will compete for their business by offering better coverage at
more affordable prices.
The choices we support include the choice of making no change at
all. I understand some seniors don't want to change, and that's
perfectly sensible. If you're a senior who wants to stay in the
current Medicare system, you'll have that option. And you'll gain a
prescription drug benefit. That's what the reform does.
If you're a senior who wants enhanced benefits, such as coverage
for extended hospital stays or protection against high out-of-pocket
expenses, you'll have that choice. If you liked managed care plans,
that option will be there. If you're a low-income senior, you will
receive extra help each month and more generous coverage, so you can
afford a Medicare option that includes prescription drug benefits.
We're applying a basic principle: seniors should be able to choose
the kind of coverage that works best for them, instead of having that
choice made by the government. (Applause.) Every member of Congress
gets to choose a health coverage plan that makes the most sense for
them. So does every federal employee. If this kind of coverage is
good enough for the United States Congress, it's good enough for
America's seniors. (Applause.)
For seniors without any drug coverage now, these reforms will make
a big difference in their lives. In return for a monthly premium of
about $35, or a dollar a day, those seniors now without coverage would
see their drug bills cut roughly in half. A senior who has no drug
coverage now and monthly drug costs of $200 a month would save more
than $1,700 on drug costs each year. A senior with monthly drug costs
of $800 would save nearly $5,900 on drug costs each year. Those are
important savings, help change people's lives in a positive way.
I'm optimistic the House and the Senate negotiators will produce a
bill that brings real savings to millions of seniors, and real reform
to Medicare. Once the legislation is passed, it will take some time to
put into place. During this period, we'll provide all seniors with a
Medicare-approved drug discount card that saves between 10 to 25
percent off the cost of their medicines. So they'll have a start to
see savings immediately.
Low-income beneficiaries will receive a $600 subsidy, along with
their discount card to help them purchase their prescription
medicines. The legislation Congress passes must make sure that the
prescription drug coverage provided to many retirees by their employers
is not undermined. That's what Rick and I just discussed. Medicare
legislation should encourage employers to continue benefits, while also
extending drug coverage to the millions of Medicare beneficiaries who
now lack it.
These steps will strengthen Medicare, not only for today's seniors,
but for tomorrow's retirees. Many workers are counting on Medicare to
provide good health care coverage in their retirement. That's what
people are counting on. These reforms will give our workers confidence
that Medicare will serve them with the very best of modern medicine.
The budget I submitted earlier this year commits an additional $400
billion over 10 years to implement this vision of a stronger Medicare
system. We're keeping our commitments to the seniors of today. We
must pursue these reforms so that our Medicare system can serve future
generations of Americans.
The time to improve our Medicare system has come. Now is the
time. (Applause.) I urge America's seniors to speak up, to call and
write your representatives to urge them to work out a final bill.
Speak up for prescription drug coverage; speak up for health care
choices; speak up for a modern Medicare system that puts patients and
doctors in charge. (Applause.)
I urge the Congress to act quickly, to act this year, not to push
this responsibility to the future. We have the opportunity; we have
the obligation to give seniors more choices and better benefits. We
have come far, and now is the time to finish the job.
Thank you for coming, appreciate it. (Applause.) Good to see you
all. Thank you all.