02.13.07
Rhode Island Senator Calls for Answers at Budget Hearing
Whitehouse: Bush Administration Stonewalling on Negotiating Power for Medicare Prescription Drug Program
Rhode Island Senator Calls for Answers at Budget Hearing
Washington, D.C. – U.S.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today sharply questioned a senior Bush
administration official over the administration’s opposition to negotiating for
lower prescription drug prices under the Medicare Part D program.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Secretary Michael O. Leavitt appeared before the Senate Budget Committee, on
which Whitehouse sits, to discuss the administration’s fiscal year 2008 budget
request for federal health care programs.
“As seniors confront skyrocketing prescription
drug costs, it’s extraordinarily frustrating that the Bush administration is
unwilling to pursue the obvious remedy: lower drug prices through negotiation,”
Whitehouse said.
A vocal advocate for health care reform,
Whitehouse has repeatedly called for Medicare to have the authority to negotiate
for lower drug prices. Today, he cited a January report by Families USA showing
that prices for the top drugs prescribed for seniors are 58 percent higher in
Medicare drug plans than when offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA). While the VA is permitted to negotiate with drug companies to get the
best price for their beneficiaries, Medicare is prohibited by law from
negotiating for lower drug prices under the current Part D program.
Whitehouse has heard from many Rhode Island
seniors who were confused and frustrated by problems they experienced with
Medicare Part D. As of last month, 38,400 seniors in Rhode Island who are
eligible for prescription drug coverage under Medicare Part D had not yet
enrolled, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
###
Washington, D.C. – U.S.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today sharply questioned a senior Bush
administration official over the administration’s opposition to negotiating for
lower prescription drug prices under the Medicare Part D program.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Secretary Michael O. Leavitt appeared before the Senate Budget Committee, on
which Whitehouse sits, to discuss the administration’s fiscal year 2008 budget
request for federal health care programs.
“As seniors confront skyrocketing prescription
drug costs, it’s extraordinarily frustrating that the Bush administration is
unwilling to pursue the obvious remedy: lower drug prices through negotiation,”
Whitehouse said.
A vocal advocate for health care reform,
Whitehouse has repeatedly called for Medicare to have the authority to negotiate
for lower drug prices. Today, he cited a January report by Families USA showing
that prices for the top drugs prescribed for seniors are 58 percent higher in
Medicare drug plans than when offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA). While the VA is permitted to negotiate with drug companies to get the
best price for their beneficiaries, Medicare is prohibited by law from
negotiating for lower drug prices under the current Part D program.
Whitehouse has heard from many Rhode Island
seniors who were confused and frustrated by problems they experienced with
Medicare Part D. As of last month, 38,400 seniors in Rhode Island who are
eligible for prescription drug coverage under Medicare Part D had not yet
enrolled, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
###
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