When Medicare was established, its payment system reflected how doctors practiced medicine in 1965. Back then, there were few prescription or over-the-counter drugs available to provide long-term treatment of illness. Under the law, Medicare promised to pay for all costs in the hospital but did not cover the cost of the few medicines available at local pharmacies.

Today is different. The way doctors treat seniors has changed radically since 1965. There are now thousands of drugs available outside the hospital that mean the difference between life and death for seniors. While new medicine offers miracles, the costs are sometimes staggering. A patient fighting cancer can face a bill not covered by Medicare of $30,000 in one year alone. Seniors faced with these costs often reduce their prescribed dosage of medicine, skip meals or even lose their house in bankruptcy.

That is why we must modernize Medicare now to cover the cost of medicine given outside the hospital.

- We must offer help immediately through discount programs that use the vast buying power of Medicare to fight for lower drug prices for seniors.
- We must provide freedom for seniors to buy medicine from any reputable pharmacy that offers the lowest price, even if it is based in Canada.
- We must support those who need the help most by covering low-income seniors to the maximum extent.
- We must focus on dignity by capping costs so that seniors can keep their house and home without fear of being bankrupted by the cost of the medicine they need.
- We must support patient choice, offering seniors options including the option not to participate in a government-run prescription drug plan.

I strongly supported H.R. 4954, the Medicare Modernization and Prescription Drug Act as an important first step in providing comprehensive, effective relief for seniors. This legislation:

- Lowers the cost of prescription drugs immediately, guarantee access to coverage for all seniors.
- Improves Medicare through more choices and savings, while strengthening Medicare for the future.
- Guarantees benefits for seniors by providing 80 percent coverage for drug costs up to $1,000, 50 percent coverage for costs up to $2,000, and 100 percent coverage for all catastrophic costs exceeding $3,700.
- Includes provisions that would fully subsidize premiums and cost-sharing for our nation's poorest seniors.
- Lower overall out-of-pocket drug costs by as much as 70 percent, offering real, effective, and voluntary relief for seniors.
- Strengthens Medicare in conjunction with hospitals, physicians, nurses, and home health facilities. Corrected reimbursement levels will help ensure that seniors receive the appropriate level and range of care through their health care providers, regardless of whether they live in urban or rural settings.

Illinois will particularly benefit from this legislation because of provisions already implemented through the Illinois SeniorCare program. Expanding on the success of the Illinois Circuit Breaker program, Illinois SeniorCare uses federal Medicaid dollars to extend prescription drug coverage to an estimated 368,000 low-income seniors. H.R. 4954 rewards states with prescription drug programs by providing added financial assistance for seniors. As a result, a federal program under Medicare, in conjunction with Illinois SeniorCare, will ensure that our state's seniors, particularly those with low income, receive much needed benefits.

The House considered drafts of this legislation for several months to meet the needs of seniors while restoring balance to the federal budget. After extensive deliberation and debate, H.R. 4954 reached the House floor on June 27, 2002. As a strong advocate of this cause, I was proud to join a bipartisan coalition in support of H.R. 4954. On June 28, H.R. 4954 passed the House by a vote of 221-208. Rival plans offered cost the government more - over a trillion dollars by the estimate of senior budget analysts and put all senior prescription decisions in the hands of the government. I believe that the plan we put forward will help seniors now and is designed not to put undue strains on the Medicare program that would cause the government to take back promises it has made to the Greatest Generation. As we enact a plan to modernize Medicare, we must take care to strengthen Medicare's finances.