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CNN Live At Daybreak

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson Discusses Prescription Discount Initiative

Aired July 12, 2001 - 08:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LINDA STOUFFER, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush will be talking about prescription drugs and their prices today, and one of his ideas for Medicare reform will fit into your wallet. It's a prescription drug discount card for seniors.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson is joining us live, in advance of the president's comments.

Mr. Secretary, good morning, thanks for being with us.

TOMMY THOMPSON, SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Good morning, Linda, it's nice to be with you.

STOUFFER: Can you please first brief us on the basic specifics of these discount cards. How are they going to work? Where can seniors get them? Where do they go to buy the drugs?

THOMPSON: The beauty of these cards, Linda, is it's going to be immediate. Seniors all over America are going to be able to enroll into a consortium that's going to be issuing a card such as this. It's going to have the good stamp of approval of Medicare, and all of Medicare's reforms are going to be around, giving seniors the purchasing power and the discounts up to 15 to 30 percent. And it's immediate. We don't have to wait for Congress to act, and it's going to allow seniors to have the huge purchasing power of all seniors to go into the marketplace and to be able to drive down the cost of those drugs.

STOUFFER: This would start in January?

THOMPSON: It could start as early as November 1 of this year, but no later than January, and we don't have to do anything other than to set up the administration and the administrative process, and citizens are going to be able to call into a 1-800 number that we're going to set up, as early as October, and then you're going to be able to enroll and pay a minimum of up to $25, and then you're going to have the access of having this card issued to you, and then you'll be able to take this card into a drugstore in your community and be able to get the discounted price of all these drugs.

STOUFFER: Mr. Thompson, you know that this plan has some critics.

THOMPSON: Quite true.

STOUFFER: Critics who are saying that this is all just really a gimmick, that there are already discount Web sites, buying programs. Why do you see this as different, and why do you think this is really the right solution for now?

THOMPSON: Well, it's immediate, number one, and we don't have to wait in Congress, and it's got the full support of the Medicare system. All Medicare citizens and people being provided by Medicare are going to have the access of this card. And it's going to be a huge consortium that's going to be such a large force, that it's going to drive the prices down even more so.

And the second thing is is that every senior is going to have access to it: those that have prescription drug coverage, those that don't. And especially those that don't have coverage are going to get the biggest benefit because they're going to have the good stamp of approval of Medicare, they're going to be able to take that card in and get those discounted prices, and it's immediate.

STOUFFER: But Mr. Thompson, what about those discounts because some Democrats are saying that this really adds up to a whole lot of nothing. If you're paying thousands of dollars in prescription drugs, what's 10, 15 percent of a couple of thousand.

THOMPSON: The thing is, Linda, those individuals that are criticizing should take the president up on his initiatives to reform Medicare and strengthen it and put the prescription drug coverage in Medicare.

This is what the president is also going to announce today. He's going to announce a new coverage for seniors. It's going to allow for strengthening Medicare. It's going also to allow for putting in new benefits for senior citizens and giving them the options to buy the best program possible for them, and that's what we want. But the card is immediate, and the reform and the strengthening of Medicare is going to take a little bit longer.

STOUFFER: Mr. Thompson, since you were kind enough to join us, I want to move onto another topic that is very controversial, and that is whether to use stem cells for research. President Bush faces a decision on this issue very soon. You, obviously, have the president's ear. Where do you stand on all of this, and what are you telling the president?

THOMPSON: I'm talking strictly about prescription drugs today, Linda, and you'll have to interview me at a later time on stem cells.

STOUFFER: We hope you will come back.

THOMPSON: I will.

STOUFFER: Secretary Tommy Thompson of Health and Human Services, thank you very much for that -- and we'll get back to you on that stem cell issue; we hope you'll speak with us then.

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