LOU WATERS, CNN ANCHOR: Al Gore is in St. Petersburg, Florida at the Coliseum. He is speaking about his Medicare plan, which he is releasing today. The heart of his agenda, he says, is a rock-solid commitment to Medicare. Let's hear what the vice president has to say.</s>VICE PRES. AL GORE (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... and we have to stop that. The power should be in your hands. The choices should belong to you, your family and your doctor. The choices ought to be made by the medical professionals, not by some insurance company clerk trying to cut corners with your health care. We need a health care patients' bill of rights to give the medical decisions back to the doctors and the nurses and take them away from the HMOs. I am running for president to fight for you, and the heart of my agenda is a rock-solid commitment to Medicare, American's guarantee for affordable health care for our parents and grandparents.</s>WATERS: Al Gore offering his plan to protect Medicare, take the entire surplus, put it in a lockbox, tell politicians to keep their hands off. Make sure that payroll taxes only go to Medicare and for paying down the national debt. His plan to improve Medicare by establishing a voluntary affordable prescription drug benefit, and allowing the 55- to 65-year- old middle class seniors to buy into Medicare, and offering to modernize Medicare by letting seniors, not HMOs, make and benefit, when the choice is about the health coverage. Compare that to the September 5th Medicare plan submitted by George W. Bush. It is a three-part plan that will provide immediate drug coverage ti low-income seniors, shore up the solvency of a Medicare program over the coming decade, and offer seniors a menu of health care plans from which to choose. That's George W. Bush's Medicare plan. Now you have them both, compare. You will hear more about it in the days and weeks to come.
Gore Outlines His Medicare Proposal