[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 15, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   FINDINGS OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE 
       RELATING TO EFFICIENCY AND REFORM PURSUANT TO H. RES. 1493

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 15, 2010

  Mr. WAXMAN. Madam Speaker, thoughtful stewardship of our national 
budget and accountability in government should be a top national 
priority. Toward that end, in the 111th Congress, the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce has been vigilant in conducting oversight hearings 
to identify waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government, and 
this effort has informed the development of a number of legislative 
initiatives that would produce substantial deficit reduction. Pursuant 
to the instructions in H. Res. 1493, following is a discussion of major 
Committee initiatives in this area.
  One of the main areas of the Committee's focus has been promoting 
efficiency and effectiveness in our nation's health care system. The 
Affordable Care Act, which the President signed into law earlier this 
year, contains reforms that will save the taxpayers $130 billion over 
the next ten years and $1.2 trillion over the following decade.
  This legislation contains many important provisions to reduce waste, 
fraud, and abuse in the health care system. These include new tools to 
identify fraudulent providers and prevent them from enrolling in 
Medicare and Medicaid; new and stronger penalties for providers that 
defraud Medicare and Medicaid; new data-sharing and data-reporting 
requirements to identify waste, fraud, and abuse; and new funding to 
identify, prevent, and prosecute fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid 
providers.
  The Committee has been reviewing additional cost-cutting initiatives 
involving health coverage. One concerns drug manufacturer rebates under 
the Medicare Part D program. The costs of drugs for Medicare-Medicaid 
dual eligible enrollees (which are paid almost entirely by the federal 
government) should be no higher under Medicare Part D than they are 
under Medicaid. The Committee-passed version of health reform included 
such a rebate provision. A version of this provision that passed the 
House (but was not enacted into law as part of the Affordable Care Act) 
would have saved taxpayers approximately $115 billion over ten years.
  Significant taxpayer savings for the federal government would also 
result by prohibiting ``pay for delay'' agreements between brand-name 
drug manufacturers and generic drug manufacturers under which the 
generic companies are paid to delay the marketing of generic products. 
Each year, the government spends billions of dollars on prescription 
drugs through programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, and the inflated 
drug costs that result from artificially delayed entry of generics onto 
the market mean higher costs for the government. The Committee and the 
House approved health reform legislation that included such a 
prohibition, but this language was not included in the version of the 
bill that became law.
  Energy policy provides another potential for significant savings. 
Last year, the House passed comprehensive energy legislation that would 
have saved the taxpayers $9 billion over ten years. This legislation 
has not yet been considered by the Senate.
  Other areas the Committee is examining also provide avenues for 
savings. In the telecommunications area, efforts to improve spectrum 
management and identify opportunities for spectrum reallocation and 
auction could save taxpayers billions of dollars. Further, the 
universal service fund costs consumers approximately $8 billion per 
year. Under the leadership of Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, the 
Committee has been examining ways to make this fund more efficient and 
control costs.
  The Committee will continue its broad-ranging efforts to consider 
these and other approaches to address waste, fraud, abuse, and 
mismanagement in government and reduce the federal deficit.

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