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Senior Citizen Politics
House Passes Bill to Mandate HHS Negotiations on
Medicare Drug Prices
January 12, 2007 - The House of Representative
early this afternoon passed HR 4, which mandates the Secretary of Health
& Human Services negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for better
prices for senior citizens in the Medicare drug program.
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House Votes Today on Negotiating Medicare Drug
Prices in Shadow of Bush Veto
Not much coverage in national news on important
vote for senior citizens
January 12, 2007 Its an important day for more
than 30 million American senior citizens who depend on the Medicare
prescription drug program to help lower their skyrocketing drug costs.
The House is expected to pass legislation that will mandate the
government negotiate prices for these drugs with the drug-makers, rather
than leaving this in the hands of the private insurance plans.
Read more...
Read more
on
Politics for Senior Citizens |
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joyfully read the final
vote - 255 in favor, 170 opposed and 10 present but not voting.
Twenty-four Republicans joined 231 Democrats in
voting for the bill. All 170 who voted "no" were Republicans.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-TX, closed the argument for the
Republicans by predicting the House would pass the bill but pointed out
that President George W. Bush has promised a veto. He added, "This is
just a political exercise" and that the proposal will never be
passed by the Senate.
The basic argument by the Republicans was summed up
by one who said, "This is not about price, it's about choice."
The Democrats had pounded on the ability of the
Veterans Administration to buy drugs at substantially lower prices than
are available through the Medicare drug plans.
The Republicans, however, pointed out that there
are several differences in the VA program, including a much more limited
list of available drugs.
A number of Republicans also argued that the free
market determination of prices was preferable than more government
involvement.
Generally, it was a civil debate that was well
managed by both parties. One exception was Kevin Brady, R-TX, who called
the bill "the latest senior scam."
There were a number of major developments and
endorsements concerning this issue just in the last couple of days
before the vote. (See
Politics for Senior Citizens)
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