First Debate Transcript: Page 2
Oct. 3 -- LEHRER: One minute rebuttal, Vice President Gore.
GORE: Well, Jim, under my plan, all seniors will getprescription drugs under Medicare. The governor has describedMedicare as a government HMO; it’s not. And let me explain thedifference.
Under the Medicare prescription drug proposal I’m making, here’s how it works: You go to your own doctor and your doctor chooses your prescription, and no HMO or insurance company can take those choicesaway from you. Then you go to your own pharmacy, you fill theprescription and Medicare pays half the cost. If you’re in a verypoor family or you have very high costs, Medicare will pay all thecosts, a $25 premium and much better benefits than you can possiblyfind in the private sector.
Now here’s the contrast. Ninety-five percent of all seniorswould get no help whatsoever, under my opponent’s plan, for the firstfour or five years.
Now, one thing I don’t understand, Jim, is, why is it that thewealthiest 1 percent get their tax cuts the first year, but 95 percentof seniors have to wait four to five years before they get a singlepenny?
LEHRER: Governor?
BUSH: I guess my answer to that is, the man’s running on“Mediscare,” trying to frighten people in the voting booth. That’s justnot the way I think, and I that’s just not my intentions. That’s notmy plan.
I want all seniors to have prescription drugs andMedicare. We need to reform Medicare. There have been opportunity todo so, but this administration has failed to do it.
And so seniors are going to have not only a Medicare plan wherethe poor seniors will have their prescriptions paid for, but therewill be a variety of options.
The current system today has meant a lot for a lot of seniors,and I really appreciate the intentions of the current system. And asI mentioned, if you’re happy with the system, you can stay in it.
But there’s a lot of procedures that have not kept up in Medicarewith the current times. There’s no prescription drug benefits,there’s no drug therapies, there’s no preventing medicines, there’s novision care.
I mean, we need to have a modern system to help seniors. And theidea of supporting a federally controlled, 132,000-page documentbureaucracy as being a compassionate way for seniors is—and theonly compassionate source of care for seniors, is just not my vision.
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