Iowa seniors met in Waterloo for the first of a string of public hearings to tell their opinions about legislation before Congress to add a prescription-drug benefit to the Medicare program. A-A-R-P state director Bruce Koeppl urged Iowans who attended to contact their legislators with their concerns. He says it’s important to talk about the issue with key lawmakers since the issue of prescription drugs is important to a lot of people. Koeppl says people came with questions about the drug benefit from their personal experience. Folks were asking where they can get cheaper medicine, why they can’t go to Canada, why the price of a prescription has gone up 20-dollars in a year — he says it’s a serious issue that’s touched people dramatically, and that’s why they’re on the front lines of the call for reform. AARP National Legislative Council member Rosealee Yeaworth told northeast Iowans to talk with their congressional representatives while they’re home during the summer recess of Congress. The main message, she says, is to “fix” the prescription-drug benefit in Medicare to get a meaningful benefit that will help people. A 17-member conference committee is to work out differences between the Senate and House versions of a prescription drug bill. Iowa U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley serves on that congressional conference committee.
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