(VT Rep) Welch to Super Committee: Save $156 billion by ending corporate giveway in Medicare Part D

[garybeck]

http://greenmountaindaily.com/diary/8070/welch-to-super-committee-save-156-billion-by-ending-corporate-giveway-in-medicare-part-d

In a letter to the 12 members of the Super Committee, Peter Welch (D-VT) and his House colleagues are urging that any deficit reduction plan require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate prescription drug prices on behalf of Medicare Part D beneficiaries. Such a move would significantly lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors and save up to $156 billion over ten years.
In June, Welch introduced the Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2011. The legislation would help the Super Committee meet its target of $1.5 trillion in budget savings.

"The Super Committee is facing many difficult decisions," Welch said. "One easy decision would be to put the federal government's purchasing power to work to save billions of dollars a year. Paying retail rates for wholesale purchases is a good deal for the pharmaceutical industry but a bad deal for the taxpayer. At a time of fiscal belt tightening, we simply cannot afford to continue this misguided policy."

PDF of letter:
http://welch.house.gov/images/stories/10-05-11_Letter_to_Super_Committee.pdf

[msongs]

1. way to go Mr. Welch but the administration and its corporate masters may not like this nt

[xchrom]

2. It'll be interesting to see this play out. Nt

[garybeck]

3. don't hold your breath... it's one of those 1% -- 99% things.

[xchrom]

5. How it goes is an indictment one way or the other.

& that is what makes it interesting.

[Selatius]

4. I just don't see this proposal passing in high likelihood. The Pharmaceutical companies are wealthy.

And that wealth translates into money for re-election campaigns. This could easily play out like the Public Option in the health insurance bill that was passed into law.

[hvn_nbr_2]

6. It's just absolutely bizarre that this hasn't been one of the primary things...

considered in all this deficit-palooza. Proves that they don't really care about the deficit; they just want to screw poor people.

[madamesilverspurs]

7. Gotta do something with Med D.

My premiums have gone up a bit each year, next year it will double. I'm shopping for another plan, but damned if it doesn't take a machete to work through that mess.