Speeches by Secretary Elaine L.Chao

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Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
Medicare Prescription Drug Event
with Secretary Mike Leavitt, HHS
Washington, D.C.
Monday, August 29, 2005

Secretary Leavitt, I am delighted to be here with you to help the Asian American community learn how to access this important new prescription drug benefit.

I would like to acknowledge Reverend Daniel Ro, of the Korean Central Presbyterian Church; Dr. Heisung Lee, Executive Director of the Korean Central Senior Center; Dr. Esther Parker, Executive Director of the Korean Community Service Center of Greater Washington; and Clayton Fong, executive director of the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging.

We are here at the Korean Senior Center because we do not want the Asian Pacific American community to miss out on this program. I am told that many of the seniors here at the center are coping with Type II Diabetes and other health issues that can be controlled by mediation. So, it's important that the 400 seniors who use this center, their families and the Asian American community in general know about this new program. It can help them purchase their medicine at a greatly reduced cost.

Here's how you can sign up. Starting November 15th, you can call the toll-free number, 1-800-Medicare, to sign up. If you have Internet access on a computer, you can sign up beginning November 15th at www.Medicare.gov.

You can begin accessing benefits as early as January 1, 2006.

President Bush launched this program because he shares the deep appreciation, love and respect that our community has for our parents, and for all elderly members of our society. And he wants to ensure that they live healthier, happier and longer lives by taking advantage of the many new drug therapies that are available today.

The Department of Labor is undertaking a series of initiatives to help spread the word about this program. We will be working with states to make materials available to Seniors at One-Stop Career Centers. There are 3,500 of these centers nationwide and many of them are right here in Virginia. The nearest One-Stop Center to where we are today is the Falls Church Skillsource Center on Leesburg Pike.

This new program will help everyone here, and their families, have greater peace of mind by ensuring that the cost of their medications is affordable. I would encourage everyone to take advantage of the new prescription drug benefit by signing up and spreading the word to your friends and neighbors.

Thank you.

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