Anyone surprised? I didn't think so. 24 Republicans crossed over and voted for passage, but Joe voted with 169 of his friends.
If it passes the Senate, there's an excellent chance Bush will veto it, along with the stem cell bill, and it's far from veto proof. It's great that we're passing all this important legislation, but if Bush finally starts using his veto power, we're going to have to do it all again once we have a Democrat in the White House.
Here's the full language of the bill:
A BILL
To amend part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower covered part D drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007'.
SEC. 2. NEGOTIATION OF LOWER COVERED PART D DRUG PRICES ON BEHALF OF MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES.
(a) Negotiation by HHS- Section 1860D-11 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-111) is amended by striking subsection (i) (relating to noninterference) and inserting the following:
`(i) Negotiation of Lower Drug Prices-
`(1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers the prices (including discounts, rebates, and other price concessions) that may be charged to PDP sponsors and MA organizations for covered part D drugs for part D eligible individuals who are enrolled under a prescription drug plan or under an MA-PD plan.
`(2) NO CHANGE IN RULES FOR FORMULARIES-
`(A) IN GENERAL- Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed to authorize the Secretary to establish or require a particular formulary.
`(B) CONSTRUCTION- Subparagraph (A) shall not be construed as affecting the Secretary's authority to ensure appropriate and adequate access to covered part D drugs under prescription drug plans and under MA-PD plans, including compliance of such plans with formulary requirements under section 1860D-4(b)(3).
`(3) CONSTRUCTION- Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as preventing the sponsor of a prescription drug plan, or an organization offering an MA-PD plan, from obtaining a discount or reduction of the price for a covered part D drug below the price negotiated under paragraph (1).
`(4) SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS- Not later than June 1, 2007, and every six months thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a report on negotiations conducted by the Secretary to achieve lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries, and the prices and price discounts achieved by the Secretary as a result of such negotiations.'.
(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall first apply to negotiations and prices for plan years beginning on January 1, 2008.
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5 comments:
Other government agencies such as the Veteran's Administration are allowed to negotiate prescription drug prices with the manufacturers. In fact, in a hearing on prescription drug prices in March of 2004, the VA told Congress that they were able to negotiate discounts of 25% to 50% off the retail prices of medication. A study by the National Academies of Science showed that the VA was able to save over $572 million between 1996 and 2000. So allowing Government Agencies to negotiate Prescription Drug prices has been shown to be successful.
Why won't Joe Knollenberg fight FOR our Seniors?
It is important though to make Bush veto these bills, so that come 2008, we can remind voters what it means to have a Republican in the White House and if they want the things the majority of Americans want, they have to vote Democratic.
I don't think we have to make him veto anything -- he's going to do it all by himself with no help from us. Unfortunately this will delay enacting any of these until they re-pass them in the 111th Congress and get them signed by a Democratic president. What a waste of time! It's too bad not one of these bills so far is veto-proof.
But what is their excuse for voting no?
Again, other federal agencies negotiate drug prices and they have been very successful at saving money.
Why don't the Republicans want to SAVE taxpayer dollars?
Good question, voteno. I just don't understand their rationale unless they all hold a lot of pharma stocks. It just doesn't make sense. Why do they not want to help people save some money.
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