Hillbilly Report
Glendale, Kentucky
April 19, 2007
BY KEVIN FREKING
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- The Senate blocked legislation Wednesday that would let the government negotiate Medicare drug prices. Democrats couldn't muster the 60 votes needed to bring the bill up for a vote.
Under the drug benefit, called Medicare Part D, private insurance plans negotiate with drugmakers over the price of medicine for their customers. About 22 million seniors and people with disabilities are enrolled in such plans.
Some lawmakers, mostly Democrats, say the government could use its leverage to drive a better bargain than individual insurers, which would lower the cost of the program for seniors and other taxpayers.
But Republicans countered Wednesday that the program is costing much less than expected because it's the private sector, not the secretary of Health and Human Services, conducting the negotiations. They blocked a motion to proceed to the bill.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the program would cost about $265 billion less than expected over the coming decade.
"I doubt a single government program in modern history, let alone one this big and this important, has ever, ever come in under budget," he said. "So it's a mystery why our Democratic friends would want to tamper with this Medicare drug benefit. If it isn't broke, why fix it?"
Democrats countered that they weren't aiming for a government takeover of the drug benefit, only to let the secretary of Health and Human Services intervene for expensive drugs that have no substitute, such as some that cancer patients take.
"This bill does not take over the role of the private plans," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. "The question is, should we make it possible for the secretary of Health and Human Services to complement the role, to go beyond it and say that there are some circumstances where we should negotiate?"
Democrats called the ban on government negotiations a favor to drugmakers.
The AARP said it would continue to push for allowing government negotiations, despite slim prospects in the Senate.
"Senators should know this issue is not going away," the group said. "No amount of campaign money can trump the will of 90% of Americans."
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