[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 182 (Thursday, November 14, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H8831-H8832]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RISING PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, last Friday, November 8, the Department of 
Health and Human Services announced that the new Medicare part B 
premiums starting in January 2020 will increase by $9.10 a month, a 6.7 
percent increase over last year.
  In dollars and cents, this means that premiums will go to $144.60 a 
month, up from $135 a month. As seniors know all too well, that $144 
will be deducted automatically from their Social Security checks, which 
is a bitter pill given the fact that Social Security itself is slated 
only to rise by 1.6 percent starting January 1.
  Very simply, that $9-a-month increase for millions of seniors will 
chew up a large part of any COLA that they can possibly receive 
starting in January.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I just want to footstop that point about the fact 
that the Social Security system's COLA, which is tied to general 
inflation in the economy, is going up 1.6 percent; whereas, the 
Medicare part B premium, which is tied to healthcare costs, is going up 
6.7 percent.
  This is something that we know is endemic throughout the healthcare 
system. In the State of Connecticut, the Department of Insurance 
increased commercial insurance rates, that went up again above 
inflation, and identified the fact that prescription drug cost was the 
primary cost driver.
  The Center for Medicare Services last Friday, when they announced the 
Medicare part B premiums, also confirmed the fact that it is 
prescription drug costs that are driving that 6.7 percent increase.
  The increase in prescription drug costs that Medicare paid from 2018 
to 2019 was 10 percent, and they are projecting that it is going to go 
to 10.10 percent in 2020; thus, we have a $9 increase coming up in 
terms of people's premiums.
  This is not going to come as a great surprise to the American people. 
If you go back to last year's election in 2018, the exit polls showed 
that the number one issue that people cared about and were concerned 
about and wanted Congress to act on was healthcare costs--more 
specifically, prescription drug costs.
  That was an election that had the largest voter turnout since 1914 in 
a midterm election and elected a new majority with a 10-million-vote 
plurality.
  So, that is the context that we are in right now, at a moment where 
this Congress, and particularly the House of Representatives, is poised 
to take up H.R. 3, which is the Lower Drug Costs Now Act. And in the 
midst of all the media focus on impeachment, it is important to know 
that the committees that have cognizance over healthcare--the Ways and 
Means Committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee, and the Education 
and Labor Committee,

[[Page H8832]]

on which I sit--reported out basically the same version of H.R. 3.

  And it is, again, a matter of just a couple of weeks for the 
Congressional Budget Office to finish scoring the bill that we are 
going to take up that measure for a vote.
  What does it do? It basically unhandcuffs the Department of Health 
and Human Services to negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies. By 
law, they have been prohibited, with what is called the noninterference 
clause, from negotiating lower drug prices.
  The VA system has been negotiating prescription drug costs for 
decades, and, in fact, they get a much better price for veterans in 
America than the folks who, again, are covered by Medicare.
  So that noninterference clause is going to be scaled back. DHS is 
going to be able to negotiate the 250 highest brand-name drug costs 
tied to an international price index--because America pays the highest 
drug costs by far. The next highest country is Switzerland, and they 
pay 25 percent less than we do here in the U.S.
  Again, what do those savings mean in terms of folks on Medicare? 
Already CBO has told us, for people on part D, which is the outpatient 
prescription drug benefit, they, again, will see a reduction in the 
out-of-pocket costs, which today are unlimited in terms of any 
copayments that they are paying for medications. That will be capped at 
$2,000.
  I have a constituent up in Killingly, Connecticut; she is a retired 
teacher. She has AFib. She is on Medicare part D. It has been a great 
help to her. But those copayments, because the AFib medication is so 
expensive, cost her $13,000 a year.
  That will be brought down to $2,000 a year if we pass H.R. 3, and 
that is just one example of the benefits--$350 billion in savings to 
Medicare over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
  Again, this is a program, Medicare, which is slated to go into 
negative territory, according to the trustee, starting in 2026. We are 
giving a $350 billion lifeline to Medicare to make sure that it is an 
enduring program moving forward in the future.
  That is why organizations like AARP, the National Committee to 
Preserve Social Security and Medicare, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic 
Social Justice, Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, and the Small 
Business Majority are supporting H.R. 3.
  It is time to sit up and pay attention to what just happened last 
week to Medicare and pass H.R. 3 for America's patients and seniors.

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