There is an old saying that "You shouldn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good," but in the case of the recent vote on legislation to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, it was a clear time to vote NO.  While I have been a vocal supporter of adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare for a long time, I could not, in good conscience, support this final bill because it will hurt more folks than it helps

The final bill will benefit the pharmaceutical companies and the insurance industry more than almost all of our senior citizens.  The cost containment measures needed to increase competition and slow the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs simply are not there.  This bill is actually an incentive for the pharmaceutical industry to raise prices, while leaving the taxpayers to foot the bill. 

This legislation will not allow U.S. citizens to buy drugs at greatly reduced prices from Canada and the European Union.  Studies show that "drug reimportation" could produce up to a 35% savings on the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. 

Many seniors who currently have a prescription drug plan with their employment sponsored retirement plan may lose it and be forced into a Medicare sponsored plan that is inferior to the one they originally had.  The bottom line is that the United States Congress could have done a better job of providing a prescription drug benefit to our nation's seniors. The final bill did not meet the test of good legislation.