Furfaro is having health problems.  

"I lay around a lot. I don't have a lot of energy. I'm short of breath. I don't feel well at all."

If his health contnues to deteriorate, he'll be admitted to the hospital to receive his medicine. Medicare will pay all bills for a hospitalization.

Robert Hayes of the Medicare Rights Center:

"Millions of people and millions more family members are going to be experiencing this shocking and crushing problem.  That's what happens when people can't get the basic care they need. And medicine is basic care."

If Congress had premitted Medicare to negotiate for the best price of prescriptions, the savings would allow for prescription coverage with no interruptions.  Another problem is the insistence on the donut hole in the Part D legislation.

Juliette Cubanski, of the Kaiser Family Foundation,

"[The donut hole] is not something we've ever seen in any other insurance product that I'm aware of."

On Sept. 5, 2003, Sen. John R. McCain (R-Ariz.) told the New York Times, "There's no doubt in my mind that the drug industry got everything it wanted and more," he said. "It perhaps should be called the 'Leave-No-Lobbyist-Behind Bill.'