Testifying before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, AARP Board Member Beatrice Braun, MD, said that "AARP is committed to creating an affordable Medicare prescription drug benefit that would be available to all beneficiaries, so that they may benefit from longer, healthier lives, fewer invasive medical procedures, and reduced health care costs." Braun went on to tell the Committee that any prescription drug benefit must be voluntary so that current beneficiaries can keep their existing coverage, if they choose to do so.

Braun explained to the Committee that while 65% of Medicare beneficiaries have some type of coverage for prescription drugs, this figure can be very misleading because many current prescription drug coverage options are inadequate, restricted, expensive, and unstable.

As far as current coverage for prescription drugs in concerned, Braun said that AARP estimates that 25 percent of Medicare beneficiaries spent over $500 out-of-pocket on prescription drugs in 1999.

Braun reminded the Committee that Medicare is also faced with the challenge of being able to handle the unique health care needs of a growing number of older Americans, some of whom will reach 85, or even 100 years. The retirement of the baby boom generation will nearly double the number of Medicare beneficiaries in the program. According to Braun, Medicare's financing and delivery systems must be capable of serving this enormous influx of beneficiaries.

In concluding her remarks, Braun told the senators that AARP urges the Committee to consider the fundamental principles that, since Medicare's inception, have helped to shape it into such a successful program as the chart the program's future.