KEY VOTE: CSE Urges NO Vote on the “Prescription Drug and Medicare Modernization Act”

Dear Representative,

On behalf of the 280,000 members of Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), I urge you to vote NO on H.R. 1, the “Prescription Drug and Medicare Modernization Act of 2003.”

In 2020, Medicare’s spiraling costs are projected to eat up 20 percent of all income tax revenue. The current fee-for-service Medicare program is unsustainable, and the proposal before the House, while superior to the Senate bill, does not adequately address the Medicare crisis.

Further, the creation of a prescription drug entitlement will constitute the largest expansion of government since the Johnson administration, and one that creates trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities for future taxpayers.

Congress should only target the population segment that is currently uninsured. Any prescription drug expansion ought to be a defined benefit, not an open-ended entitlement. It is folly to extend a drug benefit to the almost 78 percent of seniors who currently have pharmaceutical coverage. The House bill will displace millions of senior citizens out of existing private drug coverage. According to the Congressional Budget Office, over 30 percent of seniors with existing coverage would be pushed into alternative drug programs.

CSE believes real Medicare reform should include real individual choice between competing private providers, to bring seniors innovation and market competition. Instead, the current legislation would further socialize and regulate our health care system.

CSE will count the vote on the “Prescription Drug and Medicare Modernization Act of 2003” as a KEY VOTE to be reported to our members in your state. This KEY VOTE will be used to determine your eligibility for our Jefferson Award, to be presented at the conclusion of the 108th Congress. This award is provided to those legislators who espouse the principles of limited government, lower taxes, and economic liberty.

Sincerely,

Paul Beckner, President and CEO