SENATE: CSE Key Votes NO on H.R. 1, the “Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.”

Dear Senator,

On behalf of the more than 300,000 members of Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), I urge you to vote NO on the Conference Report on H.R. 1, the “Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and 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 this proposal will accelerate the Medicare crisis.

The most urgent health care need for seniors and near seniors is not a partial drug benefit. Instead, it is the urgent need to develop a Medicare system that will not require deep cuts to doctors, nurses, hospitals and home health providers in the near future to keep the system solvent.

Congress needed to reform Medicare to create real choice and competition and to slow the rate of growth in Medicare spending without resorting to increased co-payments and provider cuts. This new legislation represents a serious missed opportunity to save the Medicare system. This legislation will make the real job of Medicare reform harder rather than easier.

CSE believes real Medicare reform should allow all Americans to own Medical Savings Accounts and provide for 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 “Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and 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