The Republican Medicare prescription drug program proved to be a tragic and confusing failure for the elderly, individuals with disabilities, and pharmacists who faced a maze of poorly designed regulations, bureaucracy and red tape. Republicans literally allowed big pharmaceutical and insurance companies to write the law for their advantage – with little or no regard for its practical impact on individuals and taxpayers. Democrats support the Medicare reforms passed by the Democratic Congress that close the costly prescription drug “donut hole” that burdened seniors.

Democrats support Medicare provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that provide free preventive care and increased services to rural areas while cracking down on waste and abuse and ensuring more money goes to benefits and not insurance providers.