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Feingold Part of Bipartisan Effort to "Mend" Medicare

Date: Feb. 2, 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Drugs


Feingold Part of Bipartisan Effort to "Mend" Medicare

Bipartisan Legislation Would Help Fix the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug Law By Reinstating HHS Power to Negotiate For Cheaper Drugs

U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) is cosponsoring bipartisan legislation to help fix the 2003 Medicare prescription drug benefit. The Medicare Enhancement for Needed Drugs (MEND) Act of 2005, sponsored by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), would allow, and in some circumstances mandate, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate the prices of prescription drugs under the new Medicare law. The MEND Act removes restrictions from the Medicare prescription drug bill prohibiting the Secretary of HHS from negotiating drug prices and gives the Secretary similar negotiating power to other federal entities that purchase prescription drugs in bulk. The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to report on the prices of prescription drugs most used by seniors, to ensure that the prices of these drugs do not go up as the Medicare benefit goes into effect.

"The 2003 Medicare law did not do enough to address the skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs," Feingold said. "Members of both parties are in agreement that the Medicare bill needs to be fixed to get affordable drugs to those who need them, and to control the cost of the prescription drug benefit for taxpayers."

Following the 2003 signing of the Medicare prescription drug law, which Feingold voted against, Feingold urged the administration to strip the rule preventing the HHS Secretary from leveraging his negotiating power under Medicare.

"With its ballooning costs and its failure to deliver a meaningful prescription drug benefit, the 2003 Medicare overhaul was a handout for drug companies and private insurance plans," Feingold said. "The MEND Act comes down on the side of seniors by ensuring that prescription drugs are affordable under the new Medicare benefit."

http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/releases/05/02/2005202642.html

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