Allentown, PA - Texas Governor George W. Bush today proposed $48 billion in funding for state assistance programs to immediately provide prescription drugs to low income seniors. He also proposed reforms that will modernize Medicare through a new program, MediCARxES, that will be fast tracked through Congress. Governor Bush has set aside $110 billion in funding to use for Medicare modernization.

"Since 1965, more than 80 million American seniors have found a measure of security - a measure of confidence and dignity - in Medicare.  

Medicare is an enduring commitment of our country, but it must be modernized for our times," said Governor Bush. "We will work to modernize Medicare.  But we will not wait to help seniors get prescription drugs."

Governor Bush proposed a new program, MediCARxES (Medicare Choice and Access to Prescription Drugs for Every Senior) that will modernize Medicare and enable seniors to have choice in their health care plans. MediCARxES will allow seniors to select benefits best suited to their particular health care needs, including preventive care options, such as annual physicals, and hearing, eye, and dental care, and prescription drug coverage.

Seniors who need help getting prescription drugs immediately will benefit from the new Bush initiative, "An Immediate Helping Hand." It will provide $12 billion a year in direct aid to state governments over the next four years.  This funding will extend prescription drug coverage to low-income seniors in all 50 states during the transition to Medicare modernization.

Governor Bush is making Medicare reform an urgent priority for his administration by creating a White House Medicare Reform Task Force that will be required to send legislation to Congress by September 1, 2001. The bill would be given "fast track" status and would be guaranteed to receive final votes in Congress before the end of 2001.

Governor Bush is seizing the opportunity to reform Medicare that the Clinton/Gore administration has squandered in the past eight years, including undermining the recommendations of the bipartisan Medicare reform commission in 1997.

Al Gore’s current plan forces every senior into a government run HMO to obtain coverage for their prescription drugs. It will make the government the largest purchaser of prescription drugs and lead to government controlled prices. Even if the Gore plan passes, seniors won’t get the full drug benefit for eight years. Also, under his plan half of all seniors will pay more in annual charges than they will receive in prescription drug benefits.  

As President, Governor Bush will enact a two part program to modernize Medicare and immediately provide prescription drugs to seniors.

Part One: To provide an immediate helping hand, Governor Bush will: