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Brown-Waite joins prescription team
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer
Congressional Republicans are growing concerned about rising prescription costs, says House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois, and they want to ease the load on America's elderly. To that end, Hastert has named a Prescription Drug Action Team to strengthen Medicare and help senior citizens get prescription drug coverage. To help lead the effort, he has asked freshman U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite of Brooksville to serve as one of four vice chairpersons. "Her knowledge and dedication to this issue, coupled with her drive and tenacity to bring a prescription drug benefit to our seniors, made her a perfect choice to serve on this committee," Hastert said of Brown-Waite in a news release. "In fact," he said, "I personally selected Ginny to serve as vice chair . . . because of her commitment to seniors, solid leadership as a freshman member, and her overall get-it-done attitude. I expect to see great things from her and this panel." Brown-Waite, who campaigned in support of the GOP drug benefit program, said she did not expect to receive a leadership post on the 49-member team. "I was as in shock to see I was the only freshman co-chair as anybody," she said. She figured her selection arose from her talk with Hastert early in the session, when he asked her which issues she was most interested in. Brown-Waite has dealt with medical issues and reform in the Florida Senate and as an educator. She expects to play a key role in designing a plan that will help people afford medicine without overwhelming the federal budget. "I've told some of the prescription drug companies that I'm hearing other legislators that are very free-market idealists talk about the need for more controls on prescription drugs," Brown-Waite said. She noted that the Veterans Administration pays an average of $13 per prescription, and suggested the other wings of government could find similarly good deals. Also part of the solution is getting seniors to stop using multiple benefits for the same service, Brown-Waite said. As an example, Brown-Waite talked about a constituent she recently met who went to a VA physician one day and a Medicare doctor a few days later. The choice should be one or the other, she said. "We have got to fix the overall health care system so there isn't this overutilization," she said. The action team is not intended to write legislation, said John Feehery, a spokesman for Hastert. Rather, the group will advise the speaker on bills and work with different committees to make sure they produce a law that will serve the members' constituents well, Feehery said. Team members come primarily from districts with heavy senior populations, Feehery said. Others from Florida include vice chairman Michael Bilirakis of Tarpon Springs, Katherine Harris of Sarasota, Clay Shaw of Fort Lauderdale and Mario Diaz-Balart of Miami. No other state has as much representation on the team. Brown-Waite predicted the House will adopt a program this year, as it did last year, and that the Senate will also come up with a plan. Last year, the Senate and House could not agree on a program. Even though all eyes have been focused on war, she said, this key issue has not been lost. "I don't think we ever put it on the back burner," Brown-Waite said. The action team should begin its activity after the spring holidays. Hastert has said he would like to see the House act on a Medicare modernization bill before Memorial Day. -- Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at 754-6115 or solochek@sptimes.com
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