MEDIA ADVISORY, Tuesday, January 30, 2007
CONTACT: Yoni Cohen, (202) 225-3202

WASHINGTON, D.C. –- U.S. Representative Pete Stark (D-CA), Chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, issued the following statement in response to CMS' latest enrollment numbers for the Medicare Part D prescription drug program.
 
"There they go again," said Stark. "The administration is once more claiming 'mission accomplished' when nothing could be further from the truth. Medicare does not negotiate with drug companies for lower prices, as 87 percent of Americans would prefer. Private plans promote exclusive, confusing, and ever-changing formularies. More than three million low-income seniors and people with disabilities continue to lack prescription drug coverage. Finally, the donut hole leaves beneficiaries on their own to pay for expensive medications. As Chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, I’ll insist they make much-need improvements to the drug program."