Online Extra. . . Defeat for Senate Bill on Drug-Price Negotiation
By: Elaine S. Povich; Source: AARP Bulletin Date Posted: 2007-04-18 15:46:00-04:00
A bill that would let the government negotiate Medicare prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies was derailed in the Senate April 18 despite a massive campaign by AARP members and other organizations aimed at pushing the legislation through.
The procedural vote in the Senate fell 5 votes short of the 60 needed to limit debate on the issue and bring it to a full vote. Opponents said the 55-42 vote effectively kills the legislation this year, but supporters said they'd be back.
"This is not the end of the debate," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a leading proponent of the bill. "We'll have plenty of additional chances."
Under the current Medicare Part D drug benefit, private insurance plans negotiate drug prices with manufacturers. Backers of the legislation argue that the government would have the clout to negotiate lower prices.
"Allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices is common sense and could have led to more affordable drugs for Medicare beneficiaries and lower costs for all taxpayers," said David Sloane, AARP director of government relations. "Instead, a minority of the Senate decided to block consideration of a bill that has the support of the vast majority of their constituents."
Wyden noted that Sens. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and John McCain, R-Ariz., both of whom have supported the legislation, were absent Wednesday, and that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., switched sides in a procedural move specifically so that he could bring up the bill again. Counting those three, Wyden said, leaves the bill only two votes shy of what is needed for debate to resume.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine., a supporter of the legislation, suggested modifying it to provide a specific list of drugs on which the Secretary of Health and Human Services could be authorized to negotiate prices. That, she said, could win a few more votes.
An AARP survey taken earlier this year showed 87 percent of those polled supported allowing Medicare to use its bargaining power for lower prices. The House in January overwhelmingly approved similar legislation, sending the battle to the Senate.
Pharmaceutical companies argued against the negotiation efforts, saying it would limit the variety of drugs available to fight disease. Drug companies and their trade groups, notably the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), lobbied heavily against the bill.
"PhRMA is concerned that patient access to new life-saving medicines could be limited if restricted policies such as price controls move forward in Congress," PhRMA Senior Vice President Ken Johnson said.
AARP's Sloane said that in recent months the drug industry had provided "misleading polling and disinformation aimed at scaring older Americans into preserving the exorbitant profits that pharmaceutical companies make on brand-name drugs."
He added, "Senators should know this issue is not going away. No amount of campaign money can trump the will of close to 90 percent of Americans."
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Online Extra: House Passes Bill Requiring Lower Drug Price Negotiations
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