For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 20, 2006
President Bush and Secretary Leavitt Discuss Medicare
CVS Pharmacy
Washington, D.C.
In Focus: Medicare
11:04 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Secretary Leavitt and I are pleased to be here at this
counter where seniors come to buy prescription drugs. And one of the
interesting things that happens at this counter is that these decent
folks are constantly reminding seniors that there is a cost-saving
benefit, Plan D [sic]* in Medicare, available to them. It's a new plan,
it just started last year. The Health and Human Services helped
implement the plan, and millions of seniors are benefiting. Our seniors
are saving money, they're getting better coverage. It's a plan that I'm
real proud of.
We will continue to work to make it as good as it possibly can be. I
really do want to thank these kind-hearted souls who say to a senior
that you no longer -- poor seniors, particularly -- you no longer have
to choose between food and medicine, because there's a new way forward.
Our compassionate approach to health care is working for America's
seniors. I want to thank you -- you want to say anything about the
enrollment process?
SECRETARY LEAVITT: On November 15th, people can go through an open
enrollment period. Eighty percent of seniors who are on this plan are
satisfied with their plan, and if they're satisfied, they don't need to
do anything. But over 80 percent will be able to find a plan that's
cheaper if they want to, or that may, in fact, fit their particular
situation.
We'll have people available at 1-800-MEDICARE, there will be people at
pharmacies and at senior centers, and others that can help them around
the country. This has been a big success, and we're going to get better
at it. We're getting better at it every year; it'll be better this year
than it was last, and it will be better the year after that, just like
Medicare was in 1965. This is a very important American success story
that we'll now build upon.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much, appreciate it.
END
11:06 A.M. EDT
* Medicare Part D Plan
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