[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 29, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H5052-H5053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PRESCRIPTION DRUGS FOR SENIORS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, seniors are being forced to choose 
between buying food and their prescribed medications.
  The high cost of prescription drugs is particularly difficult for 
seniors, who use one-third of all prescriptions. Medicare does not 
cover prescription drugs. So, many seniors, 37 percent, do not have 
prescription drug coverage and must incur these expenditures out of 
their own pocket.
  Studies conducted by the Committee on Government Reform minority 
staff show that older Americans pay much higher costs than other 
groups. These studies show that in congressional districts across the 
Nation, seniors pay for prescription drugs, on average, nearly twice as 
much as the drug companies' favored customers, such as the Federal 
Government and large HMOs who have the economies of scale who can 
purchase it in large quantities.
  So seniors are paying double what the Federal Government may be 
paying through the VA or through some other program.
  This price differential is approximately five times greater than the 
average price differential for other consumer goods. So it is actually 
five times more than what the economies of scale and other consumer 
goods may cost for large purchasers.
  H.R. 664, the Prescription Drug Fairness for Seniors Act, allows 
pharmacies to purchase drugs for Medicare beneficiaries at the best 
price charged to the Federal Government through programs such as the VA 
or Medicaid. The legislation has been estimated to reduce prescription 
drug prices for seniors by more than 40 percent.
  That is not price controls, Mr. Speaker. H.R. 664 just ends 
discrimination and allows seniors to buy just like a large customer 
would do, seniors on Medicare, fee for service.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not a bunch of Democrats trying to play politics 
with this issue. What we are trying to do is bring up an issue that 
affects all Americans, because many seniors have no prescription drug 
benefits. It affects people in my district like Ms. Holec of Houston, 
Texas. Ms. Holec is 85-years-old and relies on Social Security as her 
primary source of income. She also has a medical condition that 
requires her to buy prescription drugs that cost $260 every month. Ms. 
Holec already has had to sell her car and some of her furniture to pay 
for her prescription drugs.

                              {time}  1915

  What is she supposed to do when she runs out of things to sell and 
can no longer afford her medicine that costs her now $3,000 a year? 
What if she develops another condition or requires another prescription 
drug? The solution to the problem is the Medicare prescription benefit, 
one that recognizes today's health needs of senior citizens.
  Today the President announced his Medicare modernization proposal. I 
expect many people will talk about or speak out against this proposal, 
but before they do, think of my constituent and maybe another 
constituent, someone like Mrs. Holec, who is forced to spend a 
significant portion of her income on prescription medication or 
prescription drugs.
  The President's plan will establish a new voluntary Medicare part D 
prescription drug benefit that is both affordable and available to all 
beneficiaries in fee-for-service.
  The Medicare task force that was made up of House Members, Senators, 
and public members failed for primarily two reasons: One, it forced 
low-income seniors into managed care, and it did not include a 
prescription drug benefit.
  Mr. Speaker, seniors should not have to look to managed care for 
their health needs. They should be able to look to Medicare. Whether it 
is the Prescription Drug Fairness Act that I am a cosponsor of, or the 
proposal outlined by the President today, or maybe another proposal 
that some Members would come up with, we have the responsibility to 
provide for this critical benefit.
  Simply relying on managed care to meet this need is both unrealistic 
and unfair to beneficiaries. HMO coverage of prescription drugs varies 
widely between plans, and often has caps that do not fit the needs of 
the beneficiaries. Moreover, some beneficiaries do not have an HMO 
choice because they live in rural areas, Mr. Speaker.
  I hope my Republican colleagues are as committed to solving this 
problem as the President is and my Democratic colleagues. If so, maybe 
they can join us in support of either one of these proposal or develop 
a new proposal, just so we can make sure that seniors have prescription 
medication without having to literally put themselves into poverty to 
do so.
  However, to continue to do nothing it seems, like we do with so many 
issues important to hard-working Americans, is not the option. So I 
hope many Members will look at not only what the

[[Page H5053]]

President proposed today, but also H.R. 664, to see if we cannot come 
up with a solution during this Congress, before the end of the year, to 
solve the problems of seniors who have to pay an inordinate amount, 
double in some cases what prescription medication would be for other 
Americans.

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