Prescription drugs can cost as much as $500 per month, and in Rhode Island alone, 200,000 seniors lack drug coverage.  A study I commissioned last year found that the uninsured elderly in the 2nd District of Rhode Island pay an average of 78 percent more for the most commonly used prescription drugs than do seniors in foreign countries.  

That’s why I support the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit and Discount Act, which adds a new Part D in Medicare that provides voluntary prescription drug coverage for all beneficiaries. It includes a premium of just $25 a month, which would be subsidized for low-income seniors, and has a $2,000 out-of-pocket limit per beneficiary per year.

In contrast, the Republican plan would require high out-of-pocket costs for seniors while offering low benefits.

We must ensure that seniors do not have to choose between food or rent and getting their prescriptions filled.  We must provide meaningful drug coverage.