Text 2599, 578 rader
Skriven 2006-05-10 23:33:14 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0605101) for Wed, 2006 May 10
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President Bush Participates in Conversation on Medicare Prescription Drug
Benefit in Florida
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 10, 2006

President Bush Participates in Conversation on Medicare Prescription Drug
Benefit in Florida
Asociaciĸn Borinque¤a de Florida Central, Inc.
Orlando, Florida


˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Medicare

9:47 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Please be seated. Thank you. Thanks for letting me come by
to say, hello. I'm thrilled to be back in the state of Florida. Yesterday I
checked in with my brother -- (laughter) -- to make sure everything is
going all right. I'm real proud of Jeb. He's a good, decent, man, and I
love him dearly. (Applause.)

I also checked in with Laura this morning, to see how she's doing. She
sends her best to all of you all. She's doing just great, by the way.
(Applause.)

I'm here to talk about Medicare. We've got an exciting program and an
exciting opportunity for people to improve their lives. So this is an
educational forum. This is a chance not only to speak to the folks here,
but to those who may be watching on TV about a really interesting
opportunity for the seniors all around our country to really improve their
lives by signing up for a new opportunity in Medicare.

But before I do -- and by the way, I've got some interesting helpers here
to make the case. I thought it would be better to have others describe what
the Medicare program means than me sitting up here just giving a long
speech. (Laughter.) You probably agree with that, but you're too polite to
say so. (Laughter.)

I want to thank Tommy Martinez for welcoming us here. Tommy, thank you.
(Applause.) I thank all the good folks who work here. Thanks for helping
our seniors to improve their lives. You know, one of the great things about
America is there's a lot of citizens who have heard a call to help a
neighbor, and there's a lot of people that are willing to kind of help
educate somebody or help somebody find help. That's what we're really here
to honor today, in many ways. We're not only here to talk about a new
program for Medicare, but we're here to thank people that have taken time
out of their lives to help a senior improve their lives.

I want to thank Sylvia C ceres. She is the Central Florida Regional
Director. (Applause.) Thank you, Sylvia. Ramon Ojeda is the President of
the Hispanic Chamber of Metro Orlando. Ramon, thank you. (Applause.)
Finally, old Rich Crotty, he's here somewhere. Hey, Rich, good to see you,
buddy. (Applause.) I was thinking about Rich. (Laughter.) You might
remember, his son made him famous. (Laughter.) Made me famous, too.
(Laughter.) The lad went to sleep in the middle of one of my stemwinders.
(Laughter.) Give him my best, Crotty.

Let me talk real quick about Medicare. First of all, my administration
views Medicare as a vital -- that Medicare is a vital program. It's an
important program that has worked well for many years. And therefore, when
I got into office, I said we're going to not only commit ourselves to
Medicare, but we're going to make it better. See, the federal government
has said to our seniors, we're going to provide a good health care system
for you. So we started looking at whether or not the Medicare system was
delivering as good a health care system as possible. And I determined it
wasn't. I said it was good, but it could be better.

And the reason why it wasn't as good as it could be is because the system
was not helping seniors with prescription drugs. In other words, medicine
had changed a lot since the '60s, obviously -- that's an obvious statement
-- but Medicare itself hasn't changed along with the modernization of
medicine. I'll give you a good example. Medicare would pay for ulcer
surgery, a surgery which might cost upwards of $25,000, but it would not
pay for the prescription drugs that could have prevented the ulcer from
happening in the first place. And that didn't make any sense. It didn't
make any sense for our seniors, and it didn't make any sense for the
taxpayers. And so it seemed like, it made sense to me to modernize the
system, which we did.

And so we created what's called Part D. And basically, Part D is a
prescription drug benefit for not only our seniors, but those who qualified
who are disabled, as well. Part D says this: It says that seniors are --
now got a prescription drug plan available to them. It's your choice to
make. One of the interesting things about the strategy we've employed is
seniors now have over 40 choices to choose from in Florida. Now, that in
itself created a slight problem, because 40 choices can create a sense of
uncertainty among people. You know, people say, I don't think I want all
those choices. After all, there had been very little choice up to now. And
so the idea of saying, well, here are 40 different plans to choose from, I
knew was going to create the need to encourage people to get involved to
help people make the right choice for them.

I strongly believe that giving seniors choices is important to a good
health care system. After all, not everybody's needs are the same. And
therefore, the more opportunity there is to pick a program that meets your
needs, the better off the health care system will be. That's why choice
matters.

It also means there are people actually competing for your business.
They're saying, I want your business, therefore, I'm going to try to make
it attractive for you. And the idea of giving choice to people has affected
the cost of the plan. When we first got in there, we anticipated the cost
for the average senior was going to be $37 a month; now it's down to $25 a
month for the average plan. That's positive news. It's positive for our
seniors, and it's positive for the taxpayers.

We also believe that peace of mind is important for our seniors. And so,
inherent in this reform plan is the notion of the government stepping in
after a certain level of expenditures have been made by the average senior.
In other words, anything over $3,600 in prescription drug coverage, the
government will pick up 95 percent of it. That's a catastrophic plan. It
says that we recognize that we've got to help seniors after a certain level
of expenditures, so as to help peace of mind.

That wasn't the case in the old plan, as you might remember. The new plan
has got stop-loss; it's got catastrophic care. And that's a very important
part of helping make sure the system was modern. The other thing that's
important for people to understand is that this program is very generous
for low-income seniors. About a third of the seniors qualify for extra
help. And that's the way it should be in America, in my judgment. We want
to help people who cannot help themselves. And so if you're a low-income
senior, this plan will pay nearly 95 percent of all your drug costs. And
that's important for our seniors to understand.

We've had good success at signing people up. There's about 42 -- a little
more than 42 million people who are eligible for Medicare in the United
States. Up to this point, a little over 31 million have signed up for the
new Part D plan. There's about six million seniors who don't feel the need
to sign up because they're adequately covered elsewhere, and that's okay, I
understand that. So there's about 37 more or less million people have so
far signed up since January for this new benefit. And our mission is to
reach out for the final six-plus million, is to encourage people to, at the
minimum, take a look at what's available.

There is a May 15th deadline, unless you're a low-income senior, in which
case you can sign up after May 15th without any penalty, and that's
important for our seniors to understand, as well.

And so we're here today to talk about a Medicare plan that I believe is a
good deal for America's seniors. It's very important for people to
understand that there are significant savings for you involved in this
plan. There's -- the average senior saves about one-half on his or her drug
bills, and that's good news. This is a plan that helps people when there's
a catastrophe in their lives, and this is a plan that means our low-income
folks won't have to choose between food and medicine. And that's good for
America.

Now, we're reaching out to people from all walks of life. First of all, if
you're interested in finding out about the program, call 1-800-MEDICARE,
and somebody will be there at the other end of the line explaining it to
you. If you're computer literate, call up Medicare.gov, and you'll find a
program that will help you -- it will help explain to you what is available
for you.

If you've got a -- if you're a son or a daughter, and you've got a mother
or dad who is eligible for Medicare and hasn't looked at this program, you
have a duty, in my judgment, to be a good son or a daughter and help your
mom or dad. You know, some of our seniors aren't that comfortable with
using a computer, and I understand that. But your sons and daughters are
comfortable, or your grandchildren are comfortable. Get them to help you.
Get them to take a look at what's available. A son or a daughter owes it to
their mom and dad to do that. If you're a member of a church group and
you've got seniors in your congregation, find help for them. If you're a
member of AARP, an active member of AARP, help a friend see what's
available. If you're a part of an outreach group such as this, continue
doing your duty to give people knowledge.

And that's what we're here to do. We're working with the National Alliance
for Hispanic Health, the Hispanic Business Roundtable, the National
Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders. I mean, we're talking to
a lot of groups. We've reached out through Univision and Telemundo and
Spanish radio. My point is, is that we're reaching out to all people in all
societies. We're working with the NAACP, AARP. There are a lot of people
trying to help. And for those of you here who are helping, thank you for
doing what you're doing. I hope it makes you feel better. It makes me feel
good to know there are millions of Americans who are willing to help a
neighbor understand what's available in this important program.

So you're watching the President be educator-in-chief today. (Laughter.) My
job is to go around America and explain that which is available, but I
can't do it alone. Yesterday, down in South Florida, Mike Leavitt was with
me. He's the Secretary of Health and Human Services. He's doing a fine job.
Josefina Carbonell works with Mike. Her title is Assistant Secretary for
Aging, Administration on Aging, Department of Health and Human Services.
It's a long title for a fine person. Josefina, tell us what's happening in
the Department. Welcome. (Applause.)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CARBONELL: Thank you, Mr. President. Yes, I'm known as
the Assistant Secretary of Aging, but I've got the great honor to also have
been coined in this campaign as "Se ora Medicare." (Laughter.) And we've
gone across the country.

It's indeed a wonderful honor to serve you as the Assistant Secretary for
Aging, but having worked in the aging field for over 35 years right here in
the state of Florida, it is so gratifying and so historic for me personally
to see the fine work of individuals and volunteers across this country that
have made such a difference, and you'll meet -- some of them are with us
today, and many in the audience -- how important the benefits are.

We've held over 47,000 events like this, assistance and enrollment events,
and information events. And we've ridden in buses, in our Medicare buses
across this country, and visited with people in towns small and big, rural
and urban communities, in limited English-speaking communities. And we are
so proud of the work that our inner-city and our community-based
organizations and our volunteers in both the private non-profit sector,
civic organizations, the business community, and our municipalities, and
most importantly, our volunteers.

We've had a wonderful opportunity to have over 40,000 dedicated volunteers
that have served to assist people on one-on-one as a backup to our
1-800-MEDICARE, to, of course, our website, and our area agencies on aging,
our senior centers, our Meals on Wheels programs, our home care agencies.
But those 40,000 volunteers have made such a difference. I've been in
communities where we've sat around somebody's dining room table in the
middle of a little church hall, and being able to assist them one-on-one
making that choice.

And that's so important. I know that having worked with seniors for so many
years, it is so gratifying to see the difference that this new benefit
takes on, not only in cost savings, but the most important thing for me in
many of the minority communities have been the ability for them to access
new preventive benefits, and cardiovascular and diabetes and other chronic
conditions that are so prevalent in our minority communities. So that's
another very important feature.

But help is there. Those that might still be afraid, and have not set out
-- the 1-800-MEDICARE, we've staffed that Medicare line up with 6,000
operators, trained people. We've got volunteers like Sandra, 40,000 across
this country, and the area agencies on aging and the elder help lines that
are there to assist you. We also have help lines for minority communities.
We know that in the Hispanic community, in addition to the 1-800-MEDICARE,
we have the 1-866-SU-FAMILIA, run by the National Hispanic Council,
National Hispanic Alliance for Health, which is manned by grassroots
organizations across this country, and many, many more that are there to
help you.

So seek help. The 15th is the deadline. Don't stay without that very
important benefit, that not only will give you the prescription drug
benefits that you need, but most importantly, will be a lifesaving effort
for many, many of our at-risk individuals.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I knew one of the real challenges, once this bill had
passed, was to convince people that change would be in their interests.
There's a lot of folks, frankly, at a certain point in their lives, where
they're just -- just really aren't interested in change. They're happy with
the way things are, and therefore, it would be hard to get people to kind
of be alert to the new opportunities. And so therefore, we knew we'd have
to rally a group of folks who were not political people, but just concerned
about their neighbor, so that there was a human touch to convince somebody
that change --it's one thing to call a phone number, you're talking to
somebody you can't see. But the most important contact is the one-on-one
contact that many in this audience have helped others with. And for those
of you doing that, I want to thank you.

Josefina also talked about an important part of the reform, and that is
that there's now a wellness exam for people entering Medicare finally. It
makes sense to detect problems early so it makes it easier to solve
problems. That old Medicare system didn't have kind of this sense of
prevention as a part of -- as a part of our strategy to help our seniors,
and now it does.

But for a senior who hasn't signed up, call, but also reach out to
somebody. They'll help you. This program is not as complicated as one would
initially think. And there's a lot of people that will help you, help you
walk through the steps necessary to determine what is best for you.

Now, we've got some folks here who are being served. Pete, Pete Navarro,
welcome, thank you for coming.

MR. NAVARRO: Good morning, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: You got to speak into the mike.

MR. NAVARRO: Good morning, Mr. President. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Where do you live?

MR. NAVARRO: I live in Tavares, Florida.

THE PRESIDENT: Very good, right around the corner.

MR. NAVARRO: About 45 minutes.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, it's a large corner. (Laughter.) Give people your
circumstances, please.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: One of the things people have got to understand -- Pete, by
the way, is not eligible for Medicare yet, just in terms of age. You're 59?

MR. NAVARRO: Fifty-nine, yes.

THE PRESIDENT: So am I. (Laughter.) I blame my gray hair on my mother.
(Laughter.) I don't know who you blame yours on. (Laughter.) I used to
think 60 was old, didn't you?

MR. NAVARRO: When I was young, I thought that was way out.

THE PRESIDENT: Now I think it's young, don't you?

MR. NAVARRO: I think so. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Anyway, people on disability can apply for this
program, as well. You have done so.

MR. NAVARRO: I have done so.

THE PRESIDENT: You're taking eight different medications a day. So you're
worried, obviously, about the cost.

MR. NAVARRO: I was, and since I have it, I only pay a $2 co-pay for
generics, and a $5 co-pay for the regular drugs.

THE PRESIDENT: Right. Are you able to estimate your monthly savings now?

MR. NAVARRO: I'm saving between $500 and $600 a month. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: I'm not surprised. We hear stories like this all the time,
where this program is helping people. The average senior is going to save
half on their drug bills. Here's a fellow who is saving a lot more than
half.

MR. NAVARRO: That's a lot of money.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. And that helps you, obviously -- $500 or $600 a month
gives you a little breathing room.

MR. NAVARRO: Oh, yes. It really does. It eliminates that stress that you
live when you don't know if you can get it, or not.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Well, I appreciate you sharing your story with us. It's
-- so, when are you turning 60?

MR. NAVARRO: Next January.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, January. You're a lot younger than I am. (Laughter.)
We're baby boomers. (Laughter.) Which really leads to another issue, and
that is whether or not the Congress will have the will to help restructure
Social Security and Medicare so a young generation, your grandchildren who
are going to be paying people like me to retire -- whether or not the
system is solvent for them. You're fine. I mean, the seniors are in great
shape when it comes to Medicare and Social Security. The truth of the
matter is baby boomers like old Pete and I here, we're in good shape. It's
just those who are going to be paying for us need to make sure the system
is solvent.

It's not exactly the issue, but it is an issue that is of major importance.
And, look, I'll work with Congress. Look, we need to just get rid of all
the politics in Washington and focus on what's best for the country and do
what's right. (Applause.)

All right, Pete, thank you very much.

Gloria Levergne. Gloria, where do you live?

MS. LEVERGNE: Good morning, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, ma'am, thank you.

MS. LEVERGNE: I live here in Orlando.

THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic.

MS. LEVERGNE: I was born and raised in Puerto Rico.

THE PRESIDENT: Que bueno. (Applause.)

MS. LEVERGNE: Que Bueno. And I moved to Florida in 1982 with my family. I
work as a legal assistant for 20 years, and unfortunately, on 2002 I became
disabled. And like you, I suffer from that time until two months that I'm
going to be able to get my supplemental, because I'm paying right now $265
with an insurance, and I would say when I heard about Medicare Part D I
start my own search. I look at different companies that I receive in the
mail, and compare, start calling, don't be afraid to call, get the name of
the medication that you are taking -- I'm taking six medicines every day.
One of them is Lidoderm, it's a patch, that cost me at regular price $175
per month, and I'm paying $28 is my deductible.

THE PRESIDENT: Let's slow down for a minute. You're doing great. I just
want to make sure everybody understands this good woman is paying for six
different medicines, one of which costs $175 -- speak in the mike, please
-- $175. You signed up for Medicare Part D, and now it costs you $28?

MS. LEVERGNE: My premium is $26.60, my deductibles are $28, and I'm saving
$550 per month. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Now, I know it sounds too good to be true, like if I
had said it, everybody would have said, well, I think he's just -- you know
-- just talking. (Laughter.) So I asked Gloria to be here. It's interesting
what she said. She said she took the initiative to see what was available.

Was it that difficult?

MS. LEVERGNE: No, it wasn't difficult. I look at the brochures, check with
the medication that I was taking, and I enrolled in AARP, because it is one
of the best. And I'm very happy. I encourage everybody to join the program.

THE PRESIDENT: See, she said -- what you just heard her say is, she took
the initiative, took a look and found a program that met her needs. And
that's why choice is important. In other words, the government didn't say,
here's the program that meets your needs; the government said, here's
programs available, you pick the one that meets your needs. It's a little
change of attitude, when you think about it. Basically, empowers the
customers.

Now, there are some people, I readily concede, that aren't that confident
about picking a program that meets their needs. But there are people out
there who are willing to help you. So, therefore, please call in and let us
know who you are. We're trying to make sure that every senior has a chance
to sign up for this program. And there's going to be some people in society
that are nervous about the program. They hear all the talk and they hear
this program and they hear the advertisements, and I know they're nervous.
I know they're concerned. But I assure you, it is worth your time to listen
to somebody who wants to at least explain what's available for you.

If you're -- I repeat, if you're a son or a daughter, and your mom hasn't
signed up, or your dad hasn't signed up, do your duty and -- to find out
what's available and explain. You just heard the testimony of Gloria; she's
saving $500 a month.

MS. LEVERGNE: -- $550.

THE PRESIDENT: -- $550 a month. Well, that's a lot. And one of the things
we want is the program to work, and it works well when people take
advantage of the program.

So, thank you both for sharing your -- you got something else to say?
You're through?

MS. LEVERGNE: Thank you so much.

THE PRESIDENT: Gracias. (Applause.) Good job. Very good job. I told you
you'd do a good job. (Applause.) You were great.

We got an interesting fellow here named Ramon Ortiz. Ramon is a pharmacist,
as you can see. One of the most important groups of people who are helping
our seniors realize what is available are our pharmacists. You can
understand why. They're the point of contact for a lot of our seniors.

How long have you been a pharmacist?

MR. ORTIZ: Well, 15 years. I've been 15 years -- 3 years which I served in
the United States Air Force. I was stationed here at Patrick Air Force
Base.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: One of the things he said that's interesting is CVS took
corporate responsibility and said, we now understand, once President George
W. signed the bill, we understand that a lot of our customers are now going
to be wondering whether or not it makes sense for them to look at it. And
the company became a part of the educational outreach, by educating first
the educators, who happened to be the pharmacists, that's what you're
saying.

And then now -- so you've got people coming, and saying, hey, Ramon, what's
up? Maybe they don't put it that way -- (laughter) -- but they're --

MR. ORTIZ: We know it was going to be big. And also, we knew that we were
going to be providers, we were going to be instrumental in their choices.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: It's hard for some Americans to believe, but there were
seniors who were going out -- without their drugs in the past. People had
to choose, and that's not right. And this program really helps a lot of
low-income seniors. It helps all low-income seniors. We don't want people
making that choice between food and medicine. We want the health care
system to be modern, we want it to work. If you're going to say to your
seniors, let's have a good health care system, we need to make it good, and
we've done that. And so -- keep going, you're on a roll. (Laughter.)

MR. ORTIZ: I also -- one of the most difficult patients that I had was my
mom.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I know the feeling. Does she tell you what to do?

MR. ORTIZ: Yes. For her, I'm the baby, I'm not a pharmacist.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, well, I know the feeling, as well. Join the "aggressive
mothers club." (Laughter.)

MR. ORTIZ: So being a pharmacist, seeing how much this program had helped
seniors, and I knew, because I was paying for my mom's prescriptions
sometimes, and I knew that she was taking -- paying over $280 for
prescriptions. Recently I called her, yesterday, she told me that she was
not even taking some of the medications doctor prescribed because she could
not afford it. I said, Mom, why didn't you call me, I would have paid for
your prescriptions.

Finally I convince her -- she's down in Puerto Rico in a small town, Ceiba;
she enrolled. And she asked me, tell President Bush -- (laughter) -- this
is the greatest thing ever happened; now my father, at the age of 73, he's
looking for retirement. He was working 40 hours just to pay --

THE PRESIDENT: To help your mom.

MR. ORTIZ: -- for the prescriptions. Now he can look into retirement. I'm
not sure if my mom will allow him to retire. (Laughter.) They cannot be in
the same house. (Laughter.) True story.

THE PRESIDENT: Let's leave it at that, you know? (Laughter.)

MR. ORTIZ: So, I mean, I know there's a lot of complication, and I asked
Anna, the first lady that I told you, Anna, do you really need to
understand the Medicare Plan D? She said, no, I don't have to; I'm saving
money. (Laughter.) That's what it's all about.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, it is. You know what I come away with? One, I want to
thank you for your compassion. (Applause.) There's a lot of people who
deeply care -- a lot of people who care about our fellow citizens. We
really are a compassionate country, aren't we? Here's Ramon. You know, he
speaks with passion about people who come to his place of business worried
about their health care and worried about their future. Thanks.

The other good lesson is, here's a good son. You know, he takes time to
worry about his mom -- and dad, by the way. Sons and daughters owe that to
their parents. They have received a lifetime of love from a mother or
father, and they need to repay it by helping understand what's available in
this new program. So if you're -- I keep saying this, I know, but I
strongly believe it. I believe there's personal responsibility in society,
and sons and daughters have a personal responsibility to help their mom or
dad, just like Ramon did.

You did a fine job, thank you. Gracias.

MR. ORTIZ: Gracias.

THE PRESIDENT: Sandra Johnson. Now, Sandra Johnson works for the Serving
Health Insurance Needs of Elders, known as SHINE. Is that right? Explain
SHINE.

* * * * *

THE PRESIDENT: You know what's a blessing? We got people like you in this
country, like Sandra. (Applause.) She comes down here, she says, what can I
do to help; how can I help somebody?

I love your spirit. Thanks for helping. She represents a lot of other
people in this area and around the country who are volunteering.

MS. BRYAN: (Inaudible) -- $22 a month.

THE PRESIDENT: There you go. (Laughter and applause.) From $350 to $22?

MS. BRYAN: Twenty-two --

THE PRESIDENT: Testify. (Laughter.)

MS. BRYAN: (Inaudible.)

THE PRESIDENT: There you go. We're glad you're here, Ms. Bryan. Thank you
for coming.

Listen, I hope you've enjoyed this experience. I've asked these good folks
to join us to help make the case. One, take a look at what's available;
two, help somebody take a look at what's available. That's all we can ask.
There's a May 15th deadline coming up, unless you qualify for extra help,
in which case you can sign up after May 15th with no penalty. If you don't
quality for extra help, sign up now. Now's the time. This is a good deal.
It's the government doing its duty to provide modern medicine for our
seniors.

I want to thank our panelists. You all did a fantastic job. God bless you
all, and God bless our country. (Applause.)

END 10:24 A.M. EDT

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