The Administration plans to select only a few companies to administer this discount prescription drug card and charge Medicare recipients  $25 to enroll in the program.  Many companies already provide these cards at little or no expense.  The so-called “discount prescription drug card” is not part of Medicare or any other insurance plan and there is no cost sharing involved.  In other words, the Medicare beneficiary is required to pay the total price of the card and their medicine.

As a small town family pharmacy owner, I have seen seniors receive these cards only to learn that the price for the medicine is higher than what they had been paying without the card.  Under this proposal, any savings that would possibly be recognized by Medicare recipients would be at the expense of your hometown pharmacy and not cost the big drug manufacturers a dime.  A recent report indicated that the big drug manufacturers are one of the most profitable businesses in America and spent more money last year in advertising their products than they spent on research and development of new life saving medications.

I’m committed to providing seniors with a meaningful Medicare prescription drug benefit.  However, I cannot support a proposal for a so-called discount prescription drug card—a proposal that does nothing to hold the big drug manufacturers accountable while placing the entire burden of any possible savings on your hometown pharmacy; a proposal that does not require Medicare to pay even a portion of the Medicare recipients cost of prescription drugs, leaving our seniors with no meaningful relief and still being forced to pay for their medicine out of their own pockets.

“The people of this country need and deserve a real Patients’ Bill of Rights that will provide real patient protections, freedom to choose your own doctor and to have medical decisions made by physicians not accountants, and the ability to hold the HMOs accountable,” Ross said, speaking at a rally on Capitol Hill.  “This legislation does that, and it will have positive impact millions of Americans who are struggling to stay healthy and get well without having to battle their insurance company.” 

Ross is a cosponsor of the Ganske-Dingell-Norwood-Berry Patients’ Bill of Rights that would protect patients from paying out-of-pocket for emergency room services, provide access to specialty care, and give patients the right to challenge their HMO decisions, knowing that independent, qualified physicians will determine the proper treatment.  During the press conference, Ross highlighted his constituent, Wendelyn Osborne of Arkadelphia, as a “real life” example of the need for managed care reform. 

“Ms. Osborne has a congenital and rare bone disease, Craniometaphyseal Dysplasia, that involves continuous growth of her jawbone.  She was not expected to live past the age of 10; she’s now 35.   Wendelyn’s disease requires frequent trips to her specialists and surgeries.  Unfortunately, each time she has to have an appointment she must go through her primary care physician.  Additionally, her surgeries to correct the continued growth of her jawbone are considered cosmetic when they are really life-saving—and that is wrong,” Ross stated. 

“The Ganske-Dingell-Norwood-Berry bill,” he added, “will help Wendelyn in the following ways:   It will remove the ‘gatekeeper’ to her medical care and allow Wendelyn’s care to be coordinated by her specialists. And it will give her a fair and timely external appeals process that will allow her to appeal her case to independent medical experts who can issue a rapid decision based on the medical facts of her specific case about the treatment in question.” 

Co-authors of this Patients’ Bill of Rights measure, Reps. Greg Ganske (R-IA), John Dingell (D-MI), Charlie Norwood (R-GA), and Marion Berry (D-AR) re-introduced the bill today with changes to mirror the recently passed Senate version of the bill sponsored by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and John McCain (R-AZ).  The Ganske-Dingell-Norwood-Berry legislation is expected to come to the House floor next week. 

“While many economic uncertainties remain, I was pleased to hear Mr. Greenspan’s assessment of the Fed’s efforts to revive our nation’s economic growth,” Ross said. 

Greenspan warned the legislators during his testimony that the economic slowdown has not ended and the risk of weakness is greater than currently anticipated.  However, the Fed chairman expressed hope that the Fed's recent rate reductions, in addition to the falling energy costs and upcoming tax rebate checks, will increase economic growth in the coming months.  He also explained that while, so far, the Fed has been able to cut interest rates several times because inflation has been contained, he does now see evidence of inflation.  In addition, he stated that much of the slowdown has resulted from businesses cutting back on production in light of the lower demand, which has an adverse affect on jobs, and that manufacturing jobs have been cut drastically. 

The Committee on Financial Services was created this year by merging the responsibilities of the former House Banking Committee with the securities and insurance jurisdiction of the House Commerce Committee.  As a member of the committee, Ross also serves on the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises and the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy, Technology and Economic Growth.