The Remarks Of Speaker Sheldon Silver

AARP Prescription Drug Affordability Rally

Well Of The L.O.B., Albany, NY
Wednesday, June 7, 2006

Thank you, Dave McNally, for that kind and generous introduction and thank you, ladies and gentlemen for that warm reception.

Members of the AARP, good afternoon.

By show of hands, how many of you are here from Suffolk County?

How many from Staten Island and Brooklyn?

How many from Buffalo?

How many from Rochester?

How many from Lower Manhattan?

Being a card-carrying AARP Member myself, I'll be the Association's representative from Lower Manhattan.

On behalf of the New York State Assembly, let me express my gratitude to you for coming here to the Legislative Office Building.

Thank you for taking the time to attend yesterday's committee meetings and for expressing your views to your Assembly and Senate Members on the critical issue of prescription drug affordability.

Thank you for standing up and speaking out for all of this State's older and wiser men and women, wherever they call home.

And most of all, thank you for effectively representing all of the members of AARP who could not be here during this critical time in the legislative process.

When it comes to gaining some measure of control over the cost of prescription drugs, the Assembly Majority has been - and continues to be - your champions in state government.

We are the defenders of the EPIC Program.

Time and time again, we have stood up to the Governor's Medicaid cuts, and we've restored nearly all of them over the last twelve years; billions and billions of dollars!

As your leader, Dave McNally, told you in that generous introduction, we led the campaign to have prescription drug prices posted on the Internet.

When this President first advanced the mess we know as Medicare Part "D," we were the first to step forward.

We were the first to pass legislation requiring the State to cover the costs incurred by those seniors who were being hurt during the transition period to Medicare Part "D."

When the Senate also passed the legislation, we sent it to the Governor for his signature.

Unbelievably, he vetoed that legislation!

With your backing and with the support of AARP Members across this State, the Legislature was successful in overriding what we consider the most foolish veto ever to come out of this state.

That battle isn't over. The Governor is now saying that he has no intention of abiding by the law.

Let me assure you right here and right now, we have no intention of sitting idly by and allowing this Governor to disregard the law and to disregard you!

We are not going to permit this State to ignore the needs of those New Yorkers who most deserve our compassion and our respect!

The good news is that in roughly 206 days there will be, as they say on television these days, an "extreme makeover" in the governor's office.

In 206 days, I am confident that we will finally have the leader and the partner that we have been missing for twelve, long, years.

Still, 206 days is a long way off.

Let me deliver some good news that is bit more immediate.

I have asked the Codes Committee to report Assembly Bill 5574 (sponsored by Assembly Member Pete Grannis, the Chair of the Committee on Insurance) that will require pharmaceutical drug manufacturers and wholesalers to disclose gifts given to health-care providers whether in the form of money, service, loans, travel, entertainment, hospitality, a material gift, or a promise.

Hopefully, we will take action on this important legislation next week.

Studies show that when individuals are unable to purchase the medications they need, the result is more visits to physicians and more visits to the emergency room.

At a time when we're trying to rein in the cost of health care, it is utter foolishness to limit your access to prescription medications. Doing so is contrary to everything we're trying to achieve as a state, as a nation, as a society.

Let me say one more thing.

Chairman Englebright, the Assembly Majority and I are wholeheartedly committed to doing everything we can to ensure that senior citizens have access to - and can afford - the medical treatments they need.

That is our record. It is a record that we take great pride in.

It is a record we forged with you, the AARP, as our partners.

So let us make each and every one of the next 206 days count!

Let's continue to work as partners in this critical mission of "humanizing" the health-care system that we all depend upon.

Thank you for listening. Thank you again for being here.

Have a safe trip home, but remember, let's keep our partnership strong and let's keep up the good work!