Rep. Dennis Kucinich

Washington, Aug 4, 2008 -

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) introduced a bill to replace the current Medicare drug plan.
 
H.R. 6800, The Medicare Drugs for Seniors Act, or MEDS Act, allows citizens to purchase their prescription drugs from an approved list of foreign countries, where those drugs sell for considerably less.  The bill also requires that Medicare use its bulk purchasing power to negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry, like the Department of Veterans Affairs does. Finally, the bill would impose limits on prices pharmaceutical companies would be allowed to charge, if the research and development that led to the drug’s discovery had been financed by taxpayer dollars. 

Other features of the bill include: no premiums, no co-pays and no deductibles for drugs required by Medicare recipients.

“This is a common sense bill.  Medicare beneficiaries want their prescription drugs without having to navigate complicated maze of choices and stealth loopholes.  They want a plan that will not drive them into bankruptcy.  The MEDS Act does that.”

On July 24, 2008, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee released an analysis, prepared at the request of Congressman Kucinich and other Committee Members, which showed that pharmaceuticals covered under Part D cost 30% more than pharmaceuticals provided through Medicaid.  Medicaid’s program is administered by the federal government while Medicare Part D uses private insurance companies. 

“The privatized drug plan has been given a chance and, as predicted, it has failed.  There is no reason for us to keep throwing money at a bad idea when we know we can save taxpayers billions of dollars and give seniors the medication they need.  I am proud to offer a plan that achieves that goal,” Kucinich said.

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