On behalf of the millions of seniors and individuals with disabilities in our country, I am proud to have joined my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives in supporting “The Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007,” which passed January 12 in a bipartisan vote of 255 to 170.  And I thank our Speaker Nancy Pelosi for making this issue one of the first priorities of the 110th Congress.
 
The 2003 Medicare Rx Drug Law that created the current prescription drug program included a provision, sought by big drug companies, that prohibits Medicare from negotiating with drug companies for lower prices for seniors.  As a result, the 2003 law has failed to slow the rapid growth in prescription drug prices. In fact, a study by Families USA shows that the prices charged by Medicare drug plans are rising at more than twice the rate of overall inflation.

“The Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007” repeals this special-interest provision – this gift to the drug companies.  Instead, the bill requires Medicare to conduct cost-saving negotiations.

Recent polls by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Newsweek have shown overwhelming bipartisan support among Americans for allowing our government to negotiate prescription drug prices for the Medicare program.  Negotiating drug prices is also favored by the AARP, the Consumers Union, and the AFL-CIO. 

Ironically, the only entity in this country that cannot bargain for lower group drug prices is Medicare.  The states, Fortune 500 companies, and large pharmacy chains all use their bargaining clout to obtain lower drug prices for the patients they represent. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs uses its purchasing power to negotiate up to 47 percent lower costs on its frequently prescribed drugs for veterans.  Certainly, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which administers Medicare and is our nation’s single largest purchaser of prescription drugs, should have this same ability.
 
An even more tragic consequence of the current drug benefit is that last year millions of Americans – including many beneficiaries in the 34th Congressional District - reached what is known as the “doughnut hole gap.”  This gap means that in addition to having to continue to pay their premiums without the benefit of their coverage, they are required to spend in the range of $3,000 out of their own pocket for their medications before their benefits are restored.  The result has been that many of our Medicare beneficiaries have been forced to choose between paying for the medications they need to stay healthy and alive, and paying their rent and other necessary household expenses. 

Requiring the federal government to negotiate on behalf of seniors would generate significant savings, savings that could be used to close this gap in coverage – or doughnut hole -- that threatens the livelihood of millions of Medicare beneficiaries in our country.

Now that the U.S. House of Representatives has acted, I urge my colleagues in the U.S. Senate to follow our lead and support “The Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007” which ends this unconscionable and financially wasteful prohibition on Medicare’s prescription drug negotiating authority.  Let us make one of the first acts of the 110th Congress that convened this January to create a Medicare Prescription Drug program that truly works for all of our seniors and people with disabilities.

(Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard’s office offers a wide variety of services to the community, including financial aid workshops, a service academy workshop, a scholarship directory and constituent casework services to assist district residents in resolving problems with federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  More information about federal services can be obtained by visiting Congresswoman Roybal-Allard’s web site at www.house.gov/roybal-allard or by calling her district office at (213) 628-9230.)
 

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