[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 16, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H458-H459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SENIORS DESERVE TO PAY LESS FOR PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

  (Mr. CUMMINGS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, we have a health crisis in this Nation. 
Our seniors are being priced out of the prescription drugs that help 
keep them alive and allow them to live healthy lives. I submit that 
after a lifetime of service to family and community, our seniors 
deserve to pay less. They deserve to pay less than customers of drug 
companies who receive discounts because they have market power. But 
more importantly, they deserve to pay less than that which is paid for 
drugs used by animals. Today I am releasing a government reform 
minority study of my district in Maryland which reveals that drug 
manufacturer prices are twice as high for humans than for animals, and 
these price differentials cannot be justified by quality differences

[[Page H459]]

 or research costs. Now is the time to act. I urge my colleagues to end 
this discrimination by supporting a comprehensive benefit for all 
Medicare beneficiaries.

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