[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 51 (Tuesday, April 16, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S2687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Mr. Nelson, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. 
        Blumenthal, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Brown, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Franken, Mr. 
        King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Reed, Mr. 
        Sanders, Mr. Schatz, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Udall of 
        New Mexico, and Mr. Whitehouse):
  S. 740. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to 
require drug manufacturers to provide drug rebates for drugs dispensed 
to low-income individuals under the Medicare prescription drug benefit 
program; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the 
Medicare Drug Savings Act of 2013. I am proud to be joined by my long-
time partner in this effort, Senator Bill Nelson, as well as my 
colleagues Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Senator Richard 
Blumenthal of Connecticut, Senate Barbara Boxer of California, Senator 
Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, Senator Al 
Franken of Minnesota, Senator Angus King of Maine, Senator Amy 
Klobuchar of Minnesota, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Senator Jeff 
Merkley of Oregon, Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Senator Bernie 
Sanders of Vermont, Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Senator Jeanne 
Shaheen of New Hampshire, Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Senator 
Tom Udall of New Mexico and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, 
in introducing this important piece of legislation.
  We need to responsibly reduce our deficit, but taking away health 
care for seniors and other vulnerable people should be off the table. 
Rather than dismantling Medicare and Medicaid, we can save billions of 
dollars by holding drug companies accountable and using the purchasing 
power of the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices, just 
the way any private insurance plan would use its purchasing power to 
lower prices.
  That is why we are introducing the Medicare Drug Savings Act. The 
bill will eliminate a special deal from the 2003 Medicare prescription 
drug law that allows drug companies to charge Medicare higher prices 
for some seniors' prescription drugs. It would require prescription 
drug manufacturers to pay rebates to Medicare for dually eligible 
beneficiaries in Medicare and Medicaid as well as other low-income 
Medicare beneficiaries. This proposal would reduce the deficit, saving 
taxpayers an estimated $141.2 billion over the next 10 years, according 
to the Congressional Budget Office. Similar proposals were also 
included in the recommendations from the President's Commission on 
Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, the President's framework for deficit 
reduction and the President's budget for fiscal year 2014.
  Prior to the creation of the Medicare prescription drug program, 
brand-name drug manufacturers paid a drug rebate for dually eligible 
beneficiaries in Medicare and Medicaid. However, when the new Medicare 
drug program was established, drug companies no longer had to provide 
these rebates, resulting in windfall profits for prescription drug 
manufacturers, at taxpayers' expense.
  The Medicare Drug Savings Act would require prescription drug 
manufacturers to pay the difference between the lowest current rebates 
they are paying to private Part D drug plans, and the percentage of 
Average Manufacture Price, AMP, they currently pay under Medicaid, plus 
an additional rebate if their prices grow faster than inflation. They 
would be required to participate in the rebate program in order for 
their drugs to be covered by Medicare Part D.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill. In doing so, we will 
protect Medicare for seniors, and end a giveaway to drug companies that 
is costing taxpayers billions of dollars.

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