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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, urged his House colleagues to support H.R. 4, "The Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007" during debate on the legislation on the House floor. The New Jersey congressman gave the following statement.
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A principle goal of this new Democratic majority is to make health care more affordable for all Americans, which is why I rise in strong support of H.R. 4 - the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007.
"This legislation will help lower prescription drug costs for our nation's seniors and disabled by simply repealing the provision inserted into the 2003 law that prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from negotiating lower drug prices.
"This provision never made any sense except to the pharmaceutical industry. The truth of the matter is that because of this provision the Medicare prescription drug program has resulted in windfall profits for the pharmaceutical industry - with many drug makers reporting record profits all the while seniors are paying higher drug prices.
"Now my Republican friends, who are responsible for the inclusion of this reckless provision in the first place, have been hemming and hawing about our attempts to replace it with a requirement that the HHS Secretary conduct negotiations with drug companies. They point to the fact that seniors are already receiving lower prices thanks to negotiations between private drug plans and drug manufacturers.
"That may be true, but I will argue that significantly more savings could be achieved ... and a majority of Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, agree that the government should be given the chance to further lower drug costs through negotiations. Commonsense alone tells us that the collective purchasing power of 43 million seniors will undoubtedly be a powerful bargaining tool in lowering drug costs.
"In their opposition to this legislation, Republicans and their special interest friends are using two arguments that are contradictory. First they say price negotiation will have little impact in reducing drug costs. But then they turn around and say we are killing innovation. How can we kill innovation if our legislation has no chance of lowering drug costs? Both of these statements can't be true. In fact, both are false.
"The truth is that these are the same worn out scare tactics that Republicans in Congress and the Administration have used against us before. These scare tactics will no longer work in this House. This new Democratic majority is moving forward with our promise to make health care more affordable and more accessible. Vote Yes on H.R.4." |
