[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 29618-29619]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 INTRODUCTION OF A DISCHARGE PETITION FOR A MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG 
                                BENEFIT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 9, 1999

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a rule for a 
discharge petition to force Congress to consider a Medicare 
prescription drug benefit. The rule would bring H.R. 1495, the ``Access 
to Prescription Medications in Medicare Act of 1999,'' to the floor for 
debate and open amendments. My bill provides a new Medicare benefit for 
prescription drugs--with a $200 deductible, $1700 in new benefits, with 
a 20 percent co-pay and stop loss protection for beneficiaries who 
would otherwise spend more than $3000 out of pocket on prescription 
drugs. This attempt to get a bill considered in the House is a way to 
force Republicans to finally address the issue of access to affordable 
comprehensive prescription drugs for seniors.
  A number of my colleagues and I have offered proposals for a way out 
of the current predicament which is particularly unfair to seniors 
lacking prescription drug coverage. The President has put forth his own 
Medicare prescription drug proposal which has no new deductible, 
requires a 50 percent co-pay of $2000 in 2002, rising to $5000 in 2008, 
and no stop loss protection. The ``Prescription Drug Fairness for 
Seniors Act'' (H.R. 664) introduced by Representatives Allen et. al. 
also has tremendous support. While this legislation would not create a 
new Medicare drug benefit, it would extend discounts to seniors 
equivalent to the discounts obtained by other large purchasers.
  As a recent Families USA study makes painfully clear, the cost of 
prescription drugs has become unbearable for America's more than 14 
million Medicare beneficiaries who cannot afford prescription drug 
coverage. The Families USA study finds that seniors, the last major 
insured consumer group without a prescription drug benefit, are paying 
prices that are rising four times faster than the rate of inflation. 
According to this well-researched study, these drug prices support 
profit margins for the makers of those drugs that averaged 20 percent, 
while the median margin for Fortune 500 companies is only 4.4 percent.

[[Page 29619]]

These high prices are supplementing the already-inflated paychecks of 
those who work for the drug industry.
  Likewise, the minority staff of the House Government Reform Committee 
recently conducted a comparison of prescription drug prices in my 
district and dozens of other districts and found that seniors buying 
their drugs out-of-pocket are paying about twice as much as the drug 
companies' favored customers (such as large insurance companies and 
HMOs). For Zocor, a cholesterol-lowering medication taken by millions 
by Americans--myself included--the price differential between what a 
consumer would pay who has no drug insurance relative to the rate for 
large group health plans is a staggering 229 percent--$114.62 versus 
$34.80 for a bottle of 60 pills.
  At the same time, an article in last Sunday's Washington Post 
reported that the four area HMOs serving Medicare recipients in 
Washington, D.C. will limit prescription drug benefits beginning 
January 1st. This appears to be reflective of a national trend as many 
managed care companies sharply raise co-payments and cap drug coverage. 
For example, next year UnitedHealthcare will raise prescription drug 
co-payments from $20 to $90 for a 90-day mail order supply of a brand-
name drug and Cigna plans to reduce its annual benefit for brand-name 
prescription drugs from $600 to $400, with a new limit of $100 per each 
quarter of the year.
  The public overwhelmingly recognizes the need to provide seniors with 
access to affordable drugs. According to a recent Harris poll, 90 
percent of Democrats, 87 percent of liberals, and 80 percent of 
Republicans and conservatives support a Medicare drug benefit. In 
addition, 70 percent of those participating in a recent Discovery/
Newsweek poll ranked the high cost of prescription drugs as ``the most 
important problem with the health-care system.'' And in a survey 
undertaken to better understand the American public's concerns, last 
Sunday's Washington Post reported the fear that ``Elderly Americans 
won't be able to afford the prescription drugs they need'' as one of 
the top issues that worries Americans.
  So why, in light of the public's priorities, has there been a real 
reluctance for Republicans to move forward on the issue of Medicare 
prescription drug coverage this Congress?
  Last week, Republicans decided to bring the BBA Refinement Act to the 
House floor under suspension so that amendments could not be 
introduced--such as the one based on Representative Allen's drug 
discount proposal. This legislation would have given seniors a price 
discount on their prescription drugs and permitted beneficiaries to 
finally purchase medicines at a fair price--bringing an end to the drug 
companies' price discrimination. And recently, the Ways and Means 
Republicans all voted against that same amendment offered by my 
colleague, Representative Karen Thurman, to include a discounting 
provision in the BBA Refinement legislation.
  It is this lack of Republican responsiveness that is leading me to 
file the rule for a discharge petition to bring H.R. 1495 to the floor. 
There are a number of good proposals out there. Any and all of them 
would improve the current, deplorable state we are now in. I think we 
can all agree that the current situation is not working and that the 
most important step we can now take is to increase access to affordable 
prescription drugs for our nation's seniors.

                          ____________________