Bernie Sanders (VT-At Large)

Statement of Representative Bernard Sanders Press Conference on Re-Introduction of Real Medicare Drug Benefit with Real Cost Savings

Over the last month, my office has been swamped with phone calls from dozens of seniors who are confused, disappointed and angry about the new Medicare prescription drug plan.  They are overwhelmed with the number of decisions they need to make and the difficulty of getting answers to simple questions.  Worse, many of them found they were not even listed in the plans they had signed up for or that they were being charged very large and incorrect co-pays.  Many pharmacists could not get the answers they needed in order to fill patients’ prescriptions.  And before even the first month of this new program’s implementation is up, 20 states have had to institute emergency measures to make sure low-income beneficiaries get their medicines.

I voted against this disastrous plan back in 2003 because I knew then that it was too complicated, too expensive for taxpayers, and provides too paltry a benefit for Medicare beneficiaries.  I am here to announce today that I have reintroduced legislation I brought to Congress 5 years ago that would provide a comprehensive, reliable and affordable benefit to our nation’s seniors and persons with disabilities and bring drug costs down so taxpayers can afford it.

As most of you know, the current plan was forced through Congress at 6:00 a.m. after Republican leadership kept the vote open through the dark of night for an unprecedented 3 hours -- under the rules it should have been 17 minutes or less -- while they cajoled and strong-armed Members to get the votes they needed.  This was a bill written by and for the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries, which serves their bottom lines very well but leaves most seniors wondering how it could have happened.

Since it was passed, the Member of the House in charge of getting it through Congress, Billy Tauzin, has taken a $2 million-a-year job as the chief lobbyist for PhRMA, the drug makers’ main trade group.  The Administration’s point man on the bill, Thomas Scully, who it turns out threatened to fire a government employee if he reported to Congress the real cost of the bill, is doing very nicely representing insurers and drug companies in the private sector as well.  Meanwhile, we’re stuck digging out of the mess they’ve made.

The bill I have reintroduced, unlike the current plan, is straightforward, understandable and meaningful – just like under traditional Medicare.  It would:

A.   Provide a simple, strong and universal benefit on every drug with a 20% co-pay (waived or reduced for low-income seniors). 

B.    Have an affordable $25 monthly premium and a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket maximum (waived or reduced for low-income)

C.   Include serious cost-containment measures to make the plan viable in the long term, including:

1.     Allowing reimportation of medicines from other countries, meaning all Americans – not just seniors -- could save 30% - 70% on the price of prescription drugs with no government subsidy whatsoever;

2.     Authorizing price negotiation by the government with the drug companies (something they’re forbidden to do under the Republican plan); and

3.     Requiring reasonable pricing of drugs based on taxpayer-funded research.

Compare my plan to the 44 different private plans offered in my State of Vermont alone – each with a different premium, deductible and co-pay, each covering (or not covering) different drugs, and each with the option to change the cost and the drugs covered whenever the provider wants.  The Republican Party should be ashamed of itself now that its chickens are coming home to roost.

My plan would be provided by the Medicare program just like the hospital and outpatient coverage seniors receive now.   It would not change at the whim of the provider.  It’s easier for seniors to understand.    It provides a better benefit.  And it will cost taxpayers less.  It’s that simple.  It’s a win-win-win plan and I will fight hard for it in Washington.

I refuse to coddle the pharmaceutical industry so that it continues to make the highest profits of any industry in the world while Americans are forced to pay astronomical prices for drugs they need to survive.  It’s time for Congress to do the same.