February 15,2001

Grassley Comment on the Breaux-Frist Medicare Bill

Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, today made the following comment on the introduction of Medicare legislation by Sens. John Breaux and Bill Frist.

"Senators Breaux and Frist have put a tremendous amount of work into their legislation. I know from working with Senator Breaux on the Finance Committee and the Special Committee on Aging that he was interested in saving Medicare for baby boomers long before that issue appeared on the national radar screen. The Breaux-Frist bill introduced last year will be the starting point for Medicare legislation in the Finance Committee. It incorporates the principles that are critical to saving Medicare. These principles include adding a prescription drug benefit only in the context of overall Medicare modernization, improving the Medicare+Choice program, and clearing bureaucratic hurdles at the Health Care Financing Administration."