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Skriven 2005-08-29 23:36:50 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (050829a) for Mon, 2005 Aug 29
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Remarks by the President in a Conversation on Medicare
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 29, 2005

Remarks by the President in a Conversation on Medicare



REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN A CONVERSATION ON MEDICARE

James L. Brulte Senior Center Rancho Cucamonga, California

2:40 P.M. PDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you. Be seated,
please. (Applause.) Thank you all for coming. Please be seated. Thank you.
So David said we went to this school together -- it was called a charm
school. (Laughter.) I never won my seat for Congress; he did. Obviously, it
took on him and not on me. (Laughter.) But I want to thank him for his
introduction. I want to thank him for his leadership. David Dreier cares a
lot about a lot of issues. One of the issues that he's been talking to me a
lot about is to make sure the federal government does its job in enforcing
our borders to keep illegal folks out of our country. (Applause.) And I
want to assure you -- I don't know if you remember this, but I had a job
prior to President, I was the governor of a border state. And I understand
the challenges of enforcing our border. I understand the federal government
has a role and the state government has a role, and local government has a
role. And my pledge to the people of California is that the federal
government will work closely with the state government and local government
to provide assets, manpower, detention space, to do our duty, and that is
to make sure this border of ours is secure. And so I want to thank you on
your leadership on that issue, David, and I thank you for working with us
on that important issue. I'm traveling in good company -- I'm not talking
about Dreier at this point -- (laughter) -- I'm talking about my wife, the
First Lady. Thanks for coming, Laura. (Applause.) We're both very excited
to come to your great state, and it is a great state. We were met at the
airport by Congressman Ken Calvert. I appreciate you being here, Ken.
Thanks for coming. Congressman Gary Miller, as well, is with us, as is
Congressman Joe Baca. Thank you all for being here. (Applause.) I knew
Brulte would amount to something one of these days. (Laughter.) He got
something named after him. I'm honored to be here with my friend, Jim
Brulte, at the Brulte Center. (Applause.) I want to thank Mayor Bill
Alexander of Rancho Cucamonga. Bill, thank you for having us here today. I
appreciate your hospitality. (Applause.) I want to thank Mayor Paul Leon of
Ontario. Paul, thanks for being at the airport today. (Applause.) I
appreciate all the Statehouse folks who are here, and country folks, and
the local folks for joining us. Most of all, thank you all for giving me a
chance to come by and discuss a really interesting opportunity for our
seniors. And that is a reformed Medicare plan. Before I get to Medicare I
got some other things I want to talk about. First, I want to remind you
that the great strength of this country lies in the hearts and souls of our
volunteers. We're a nation that is a compassionate, decent nation, where
millions of our fellow citizens volunteer on a regular basis to help a
neighbor in need. I met one such person today in Joe Graff. Joe is with us;
he's been a volunteer with the Ontario Police Department for 15 years. Joe
assists the police personnel with traffic control and parking tickets. If
you've got one, you might want to call Joe. (Laughter.) But my point to you
is, if you really do want to help your local community, if you want to help
change America one heart at a time, take time out of your life and
volunteer. Teach a child to read; tell somebody you love them; feed the
hungry; and America will be a better place. Joe, thanks for coming. I
appreciate you being here. (Applause.) As David said, we're praying for the
folks that have been affected by this Hurricane Katrina. We're in constant
contact with the local officials down there. The storm is moving through,
and we're now able to assess damage, or beginning to assess damage. And I
want the people to know in the affected areas that the federal government
and the state government and the local governments will work side-by-side
to do all we can to help get your lives back in order. This was a terrible
storm. It's a storm that hit with a lot of ferocity. It's a storm now that
is moving through, and now it's the time for governments to help people get
their feet on the ground. For those of you who prayed for the folks in that
area, I want to thank you for your prayers. For those of you who are
concerned about whether or not we're prepared to help, don't be. We are.
We're in place. We've got equipment in place, supplies in place. And once
the -- once we're able to assess the damage, we'll be able to move in and
help those good folks in the affected areas. (Applause.) David also
mentioned that we're making progress overseas. And we are making progress
overseas. Recently, the Iraqis came together and wrote a constitution. It's
not easy to write a constitution. Look at our own history. I was reminded
that several of the delegates to our own Constitutional Convention stormed
out and wouldn't sign the document. But now it's up to the Iraqi citizens
to make up their minds whether or not they want to live in a constitution.
It's a constitution, by the way, that guarantees women's rights. It's a
constitution -- (applause) -- a constitution that guarantees religious
freedom. (Applause.) It is a good document forged by compromise. It's a
document where people came together to say, let's do what's right for a
fledgling democracy. It's a document that stands in stark contrast to the
days when the people's lives were run by a tyrant. We're doing everything
we can to bring the terrorists to justice. They've only got one weapon.
They have no ideology of hope, they have no optimistic vision. The only
thing they can do is to murder innocent people and hope that we lose our
will. The success in Iraq is vital for success -- for peace for our
children and grandchildren. And therefore, the United States of America and
our coalition will continue to work with the Iraqis to build a democracy,
continue to build -- to lay the foundation of peace, and continue to help
the Iraqis train and prepare so they can defend their own country against
the tyrants. (Applause.) David's right, it was right here in 2000 I talked
about Social Security. I want to repeat right quick what I said. If you're
retired and receiving a Social Security check, you have nothing to worry
about, you will get your check. (Applause.) You'll get your check. But you
need to worry about your children and your grandchildren. See, there's a
lot of baby boomers like me getting ready to retire. Matter of fact, my
retirement age is in 2008 -- quite convenient. (Laughter.) And there's a
lot of me. There's a lot of baby boomers. And we're living longer, and
we've been promised greater benefits than previous generations. And yet
there are fewer people paying into the system. Now, if you add all that up,
what I'm telling you is, it's going broke for younger workers. If you're
receiving your check, you're in good shape, you have not a thing to worry
about. Isn't that right? But you need to worry about the young workers who
are putting money into the system that is not going to be around. I'm going
to keep working this issue. I believe it is essential that a President
confront problems and not pass them on to future Presidents and future
Congresses, and I believe it's essential this Congress act. (Applause.) So
in other words, I hadn't changed my mind since I came here to talk about
Social Security. The other thing I worked on with members of Congress was
to fulfill our promise to our seniors that they'd have as good a health
care system as possible. Medicare is a really important program -- except
Medicare wasn't modern. When we got to -- when I got to Washington, it was
a system that was kind of stuck in the past, and I'll tell you why.
Medicare would pay for heart surgery, but not a dime for the drugs that
could prevent the heart surgeries from being needed in the first place. It
would pay $28,000 for ulcer surgery, but not $500 for the prescription
drugs that could prevent the ulcer from occurring in the first place.
That's not a modern system, that's an antiquated system. And not only that,
it was costing the taxpayers more money than necessary. It seems like to me
it makes fiscal sense to say, let's spend the $500 to prevent the $28,000
from being needed. It's a wise use of your money, it seems like to me. But
we weren't doing it that way. And so I called upon Congress, both
Republicans and Democrats, to work together to modernize the Medicare
system. And what we're here to talk about is a strengthened Medicare
program. And the reason we're having to travel around to do so is because I
fully understand a lot of people don't want to change. In other words,
people who are on Medicare say, look, just leave me alone. I'm not
interested. And if that's the way you feel, that's fine. This is voluntary
program. But what I want to hear -- want you to hear is there are some
really good options for you to choose from if you want to. In other words,
there's a menu of opportunity now available to you. If you've just recently
signed up for Medicare, you know one of the reforms that we've put in
place, it's called "Welcome to Medicare" physical. For the first time in
Medicare, the government is now paying for a physical. Makes sense, doesn't
it? Why don't we test you early so we can solve the problems early? There's
preventive medicine involved with Medicare now, and that's important. But
the big change is going to come when it comes to prescription drug
coverage. Seniors with no drug coverage or average drug expenses will see
your drug costs cut in half. In other words, you take a look at this
program, you're going to set up some big savings when it comes to drugs.
(Applause.) And for the first time ever, we got catastrophic coverage as a
part of Medicare. In other words, once you're out of your pocket a certain
amount of money, the government kicks in for a lot of the remainder. You
see, this is a quality of life bill, but it's also a peace of mind bill. In
other words, it's a chance to really modernize the system, on the one hand,
but it's also to provide security on the other. And that's why there's a
catastrophic coverage in there. If you're a low-income senior you will
virtually pay nothing for your prescription drugs. And that's important for
you to know. If you're a low-income senior, the federal government will
pick up at least 95 percent of your prescription drug coverage. There will
be no gaps in your coverage. There will be low deductibles. And so we're
here to try to encourage you, as seniors, to look at the different options
for you. For example, we're going -- you'll hear from some of your fellow
citizens -- or our fellow citizens up here, and they're talking about
Medicare Advantage plans. If you're on a Medicare Advantage plan, these
plans will be strengthened under this reform package. If you're getting
your health care from your union or your former employer, there's
incentives in the bill to provide monies to make sure that your provider
still provides you the health care. In other words, it's a comprehensive
piece of legislation. And it's a good one. It's a good one. I know that you
wept, like many of us wept when we heard stories about people having to
choose between food or medicine. Those days are gone because of this
Medicare legislation. (Applause.) Now, we got us a timetable that people
have got to pay attention to. It starts with this: On October the 1st,
beneficiaries start receiving information about available drug plans. In
other words, the government is going to start making sure information is
available for you all to understand that which is available to you, if you
so choose to pick one, a different plan. And that starts October the 1st.
On November the 15th, you can start signing up for a plan that suits your
needs. Again, I repeat, if you're happy with what you've got, don't worry
about it. Just kind of take the paperwork and file it. (Laughter.) But if
you're interested in different options, look at the information that's
being sent and know that, starting November 15th, you can enroll, and
starting January 1, 2006, for the first time, thanks to this piece of
legislation, prescription drug benefits will -- prescription drug coverage
will begin for our seniors. And you got up until May 15, 2006 to sign up to
pay the lowest premiums. Now, our job is to make sure that a lot of people
know what's coming. In other words, our job is to encourage people at the
state level and the local level and the federal level to educate seniors.
And that's what we're doing here today. I put a good man in charge of this
program, and that's Dr. Mark McClellan. He's from Texas -- (laughter) --
which means he knows how to get something done. He's got him a Ph.D. --
AUDIENCE: Oooh! THE PRESIDENT: Now, wait a minute. (Laughter.) If I had
said, California, he'd have got things done, too. (Laughter.) I'm just
telling you he can get it done. That's why he's sitting where he's sitting.
He's a Ph.D. Here you got on stage a C student and a Ph.D., and look who's
President. (Applause.) He's also an MD. But he's also responsible for
making sure that information gets out. By the way, if you're interested in
information, call 1-800-MEDICARE, or MEDICARE.gov. Mark, tell them what
you've been doing. DR. McCLELLAN: We've been working to make sure that
people know about the options that are coming, and there are some really
good options for people here in California -- by the way, where I used to
practice medicine before coming into government, right here in northern
California. And in southern California, as well, we've got a number of plan
choices that are going to be available that are a lot less expensive than
people thought. When this bill was first passed, people were talking about
the coverage costing around $37 a month. Well, what we know from the plans
that are going to be available here in California, the costs are going to
average only around $25 a month out here, and there will be plan choices
available to seniors and people with a disability for less than $20 a
month. And many of them will provide extra coverage. So this is worth
taking a look at. And as you said, Mr. President, it's designed to work
with the coverage that you have now. If you're lucky enough to have drug
coverage from an employer, you can now get help from Medicare in paying for
that employer coverage. If you've got a Medicare Advantage plan, one of the
Medicare health plans that offers some drug coverage now, well, those plans
are going to offer more drug coverage next year. So no matter what
situation you're in, you can get help with your drug costs for Medicare,
and that help is looking especially good right here in California. THE
PRESIDENT: One of the things that -- if you want to apply for the benefits
for low-income seniors, you have to fill out a form. And I know that
generally frightens people. It frightens me. A four-page form, that sounds
like a lot. You'll be pleased to hear it's big print -- 16 questions on
four pages. And the Social Security Administration has mailed out those
forms. DR. McCLELLAN: That's right. They've sent letters out to millions of
people who they think are eligible for this coverage, because a lot of
people who don't think of themselves as low-income, but are struggling with
their drug costs are actually eligible for this. The eligibility goes up to
people living on incomes up to close to $20,000 a year for a couple. So
that's most people who are trying to get by month to month just on their
Social Security check. THE PRESIDENT: So it's really important to look into
this program. And it's important to take a look at the forms. And for those
of you out there who are trying to help our seniors, it's important for you
to understand what I'm talking about. Part of making sure this works, and
part of making sure that the information is spread throughout our society,
is sons and daughters need to pay attention to this program. You need to do
your duty as a son or a daughter and get this information to your moms or
your dads. That's what you need to do. You need to make sure that you help
investigate what's possible, and not miss a really good opportunity. This
is a good deal. And therefore, you need to follow through on it. And part
of the process is to fill out this form. And it's not all that hard, but if
you get stuck, there's a way to get unstuck on filling out the form. DR.
McCLELLAN: That's right. Just fill out the questions that you think you can
answer, send it in; Social Security will call you back and help you fill
out the rest. And, Mr. President, this is extra help worth about $4,000
altogether, so it's about $1,000 a page for people filling out this
application. It's very comprehensive drug coverage, no premiums, no
deductibles, just a few dollars usually for the cost of your prescription,
all for just a four-page form. THE PRESIDENT: Mark has been on the road
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and others on a grassroots
campaign. Because we understood when this started coming out that we needed
to do a lot of education. Again I repeat, some folks simply don't want any
change, and I understand that completely. But I urge you to take a look.
And you'll find more options available. You see, the more options that are
available, the more likely there's going to get -- you're going to get what
you want. And if you're a low-income senior, you've got to take advantage
of the government program. It is a good deal. Now, part of making sure that
we're able to get the word out is we're rallying grassroots organizations.
One such organization is Larry Krutchik's organization. Larry, thank you
for coming. Tell the people what it is. * * * * * THE PRESIDENT: I
appreciate that. Isn't that great? I mean, to me, it's -- (applause.) I
appreciate you doing that, and I want you to thank the volunteers who are
working on this program on behalf of the seniors who are going to benefit
from it. If you're going to a church and you're interested in the project,
why don't you help the elderly in your church understand that which is
coming? Why don't you take a little time and find out the programs
available, and find out -- get the forms, and help somebody? This is a good
deal. I know it may -- you're probably saying, another politician saying
it's a good deal. (Laughter.) I'm telling you, it is. And it makes sense to
pay attention to it. And we understand we have an obligation to get out and
make the information available. It's your choice. The government is not
telling you want to do. But the government is saying, here's some
interesting opportunities for you. And, Larry, I want to thank you for
being out there and making those opportunities available. We got another
fellow here, Ken Morris. Ken, thanks for coming. What do you do to make a
living? * * * * * THE PRESIDENT: One of the interesting places where we're
able to make this program better known is at the pharmacies. I mean, it
makes sense if you're going to pick up a prescription drug, and the
pharmacist is the point of contact, and the pharmacist says, hey, look,
here's a new thing coming down. And we've got a lot of pharmacists from
around the United States who have signed up to help. And I want to thank
the pharmacists for doing that. What do you find (applause) -- give us a
sense of what you're hearing out there. MR. MORRIS: Well, it's long
overdue. The seniors are welcoming this plan with open arms, as are health
care professionals such as myself. It's heartbreaking for me to deal with
seniors that come in, as you had mentioned, maybe with a heart surgery and
to find out that they've now got a list of a half-dozen medications and
they're trying to make a decision on which ones to take because they can't
afford to take all of them. So it's tough. THE PRESIDENT: But are people
beginning to become aware that there's a new Medicare bill that had been
passed and some options are now becoming available? MR. MORRIS: Yes, I
think so. As we get a little closer, I think to October, I think the
questions will start ramping up. But at this point, people have been
getting mailings. We just need to make sure that they understand exactly
what the plan is about. THE PRESIDENT: Yes. There's a great opportunity for
those of you out there who want to help a senior citizen in your
neighborhood, is to help. Get on the Internet -- MEDICARE.gov. Look it up,
find out what we're talking about. Make sure what we're talking about is
exactly what the government has got available. I think it is. I think
you're going find out what we're -- what Mark and I are telling you is
exactly what's going to happen. But it's a fantastic opportunity. And
again, I want to thank the pharmacists. I want to thank the community
activists, the grass roots organizers. This, by the way, isn't a Republican
deal or a Democrat deal, this is good for America. It doesn't matter what
your party is when it comes to Medicare. We just want to make sure, and the
government has an obligation to make sure you got a modern system that
works well so that you can live in dignity. They ought to call this the
"You've Retired in Dignity" bill, because it's a good piece of legislation.
And we've got some folks up here who are concerned about their Social
Security or Medicare. Joan Geist is with us. Thanks for coming. MS. GEIST:
Thank you, Mr. President. THE PRESIDENT: Proud you're here. She's -- MS.
GEIST: Very happy to be here. THE PRESIDENT: Her sole source of income is
Social Security, by the way. I could tell -- she was looking at me when I
first walked in the room to meet her, she was wondering whether or not old
George W. is going to take away her Social Security check. MS. GEIST: I
sure hope not. THE PRESIDENT: The answer is no. You're going to get your
check. MS. GEIST: Thank you, sir. THE PRESIDENT: You deserve it. MS. GEIST:
And I'm on Medicare, and there's been times that I've had drugs that I
refused to take because they were too expensive. THE PRESIDENT: Yes. MS.
GEIST: And I think this plan could help me. And as a volunteer at Kaiser
Hospital, and as a community representative for downtown Fontana, I'm
hoping to pass this word along to some of our organizations in town, and
some of our service groups, and some of our senior citizens homes. And I
hope that I'm able to do that. THE PRESIDENT: See, that's great, isn't it?
Here she is somebody who was wondering what the program means for her and,
as well, is willing to spread the word. And I hope people who are --
(applause.) Thank you for doing that. Thank you for volunteering, too. MS.
GEIST: Thank you. I'm a mother of five children. THE PRESIDENT: Five
children. MS. GEIST: Five step-children. THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic. MS.
GEIST: Twenty-seven grandchildren. THE PRESIDENT: Whew. MS. GEIST: And
three great-grandchildren. And I have a son, Mike, out in the audience
today that -- THE PRESIDENT: Mike listening to you? MS. GEIST: He better
be. THE PRESIDENT: Yes. (Laughter.) Kind of like my family. (Laughter.)
Joan, one of the most things -- proud things -- one of the things she was
most proud to tell me about was the fact that she loves to volunteer. And
that's one of the great parts of the American spirit, is people like Joan
are willing to -- she's willing to take time to make somebody's life
better. So I want to thank you for that. Thank you for passing the word.
MS. GEIST: Thank you. THE PRESIDENT: You betcha. (Applause.) Myrtle Jones.
Where do you live, Myrtle? MS. JONES: I live in Rancho Cucamonga. THE
PRESIDENT: Yes. (Applause.) Right here with the home folks. MS. JONES: Yes,
I am. And I've participated here -- since 1988 I've belonged here. THE
PRESIDENT: That's good. MS. JONES: And I'm a retired management. I managed
three dry cleaning establishments, and then I retired and did some in-home
nursing, and retired from that. And now I'm an elder in my church. And I
volunteer here and do a lot of work here. And I also have three wonderful
children -- Rod, Dorothy and Richard. I have six grandchildren, five
great-grandchildren. THE PRESIDENT: Whew. MS. JONES: And I have managed on
my own without the help from them. (Laughter.) THE PRESIDENT: Yes, take
that. (Laughter and applause.) * * * * * THE PRESIDENT: Myrtle, you need to
get that four-page form, and you need to look at it and you need to fill it
out. MS. JONES: I will. THE PRESIDENT: Because I think you're going to find
the strengthened Medicare program is going to help you a lot. MS. JONES:
Oh, it will. THE PRESIDENT: It really will. MS. JONES: It really will. THE
PRESIDENT: The purpose of coming here today -- thank you all for doing
this, by the way -- the purpose of coming was to encourage -- (applause) --
the purpose of coming was to inform as many folks as we can, obviously, in
person and on TV, that Medicare has been strengthened and Medicare has been
modernized, and that if you're really interested in helping a senior, or a
senior helping yourself, look into this plan, look into what's available.
And you can find out on MEDICARE.gov, or you can call 1-800-MEDICARE. If
you get a form, fill it out. When they send you a form to determine whether
or not you're going to be eligible for this enhanced drug benefit from the
federal government, fill it out. It doesn't do any harm to fill it out. And
if you need help, somebody will help you fill it out. The government has an
obligation to our seniors to provide a health care system. We have done
that for years. Now we took it upon ourselves to make sure the health care
system we provided was strong and modern. And we have done that. And pretty
soon, people are going to be able to make choices if they want to. And our
job at the government level, and job at the grass-root level, and jobs in
the community centers and community groups, is to help people understand
what's available. I want to thank you all for giving me and Laura a chance
to come back to Rancho Cucamonga. It's a beautiful place you got here. We
appreciate your hospitality. May God bless you all. Thank you. (Applause.)
END 3:10 P.M. PDT

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