[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16886]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  PASS H.R. 5272 TO LOWER DRUG PRICES

  (Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, according to industry experts, health 
insurance premiums will jump 13 to 24 percent next year. What is 
driving this increase? Mostly the cost of prescription drugs.
  To deflect attention from these remarkably high prices, the drug 
industry argues that prescription medicines actually save money by 
reducing health care costs. If they were more reasonably priced, that 
might be true. There is no doubt that medicine helps alleviate the need 
for other health care services. But prescription drugs are priced so 
outrageously high that their inflationary impact far outstrips any 
savings. Skyrocket insurance premiums simply do not lie.
  There is no excuse for the drug industry's pricing practices. There 
is no excuse for the tactics drug makers use to block lower-priced 
generic drugs from the market. There is no excuse for the drug makers' 
lobbying tactics to try to kill our legislation.
  This body must act on H.R. 5272, legislation that will stop the 
gaming and deliver lower drug prices to the American people, an 
estimated $60 billion in savings.
  I urge House Republican leadership, all too often too close to the 
drug industry, to bring this consumer savings bill up for a vote before 
Columbus Day.

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