Health care is the number one domestic issue facing all Americans. Its economic, social and moral implications reach far and wide. Yet, despite prosperous economic times, some Americans are being left behind in a wake of prosperity and a state of utter confusion. Perhaps no better example of this involves our senior population and the outrageous prices many of them must pay for their much needed prescription drugs. The escalating costs of prescription drugs for seniors has become a significant problem in this country. Far too often we have heard horror stories of Rhode Islanders having to decide between putting a roof over their heads and food on the table or buying their often lifesaving medications. I have heard the personal stories of seniors returning to work well past 65 years of age, just to cover their medication costs. One retired couple I met from Warwick pays over $8,000 a year just for their prescription drugs. In fact, their situation became so dire that both of them had to return to work just to foot the bill for their prescription drugs. This is quite unfairly now the norm.
I’m sure many Rhode Islanders have heard similar stories. What most people may not know is the fact that if you are enrolled in a large HMO, you receive a substantial discount on your medication. This is because HMOs and even our own Veterans Administration are considered “favored customers” of the pharmaceutical industry. As a result, they possess large buying power and can negotiate lower prices for their subscribers based on the fact that they buy their medication supplies in bulk. What truly makes this unfair, is that many seniors do not have the power of a purchasing pool such as the favored customers. If for instance, as I have proposed, seniors could purchase their medications through Medicare, which would act as the purchasing pool, it would allow them to buy their prescription drugs at a much reduced rate.
Because of the current challenges seniors face in this regard, I wanted to know more, and specifically how much more, Rhode Island’s seniors are paying for their prescription drugs.
In conjunction with my office, the Committee on Government Reform in the U.S. House of Representatives conducted a study here in Rhode Island to see how deep seniors are having to dig into their own pockets to cover medication costs. This survey compared the costs seniors pay for medication to the costs incurred by HMOs and the federal government. What we found was that, on average, Rhode Island seniors pay 111 percent MORE than HMOs and the federal government. So, while the pharmaceutical industry’s favored customers enjoy deep discounts in purchasing their prescription medications, millions of older Americans are forced to pay full price.
The outrage runs deep when you look at the five most sold drugs for older Americans. For instance, Zocor, a drug used for controlling cholesterol, is on the market at a cost of $27 for preferred customers while seniors pay $97.42. Norvasc, a drug used to treat high blood pressure, sells for $59.71 to preferred customers while seniors pay $108.62 for that same drug.
Prilosec, which is used to treat ulcers, sells for $59.10 to preferred customers while seniors pay $107.02. Procardia, used for heart problems, sells to preferred customers at $68.35 while seniors pay $116.86. Lastly,
Zoloft, used to treat depression, sells to preferred customers for $125.73 while seniors pay $202.68.
This is simply wrong! And, don’t blame the individual pharmacies. Our study revealed that the difference between retail prices and pharmacy costs, which represents the average price wholesalers actually pay for drugs is only 10 percent. This indicates that it is the drug manufacturers – not the pharmacies – that account for the inflated prices charged to olderAmericans. And to think pharmaceutical companies are this very daycompleting multi-billion dollar mergers and conducting multi-million dollaradvertising campaigns all in an effort to drive up their own profit margins.
My hope is that the Congress will pass meaningful legislation to help dealwith this problem. Last year, it was with great pride and determination,that I co-sponsored legislation that would provide affordable prescriptiondrugs to seniors. If enacted my legislation, HR 664, would save seniors onaverage between 40-50 percent on their medication costs.
HR 664 is commonly referred to as the Prescription Drug Fairness for SeniorCitizens Act. This legislation, if passed into law, would provide seniorsaccess to the same buying power as the drug companies most favoredcustomers. Seniors would obtain a substantial discount by using a drugbenefit card which they would present when filling prescriptions at aparticipating pharmacy. This would lower medication costs for all Rhode
Island’s seniors. It also keeps more money in the pockets of our state’solder citizens instead of our nation’s pharmaceutical companies. In aneffort to make sure seniors are getting the lowest prices available to them,this legislation mandates that the Department of Health and Human Services reports to Congress on how successful the legislation has been in reducing drug prices for America’s seniors and make recommendations for achieving further reductions.
The Prescription Drug Fairness Act is a common-sense, business-like approach that puts the purchasing power of the federal government to good use for seniors. This is no different than what any large business would do. In fact, we already do this for veterans and Native Americans.
Just the other night, in his final State of the Union address, President Clinton addressed the problem of affordable prescription drugs for seniors.
While this is a step in the right direction, we must go further. Let’s work together, on both sides of the aisle, to see that Medicare beneficiaries are able to buy their medications at group rates.
It is important that we work together to demand that Congress tackle the issue of Prescription Drug Fairness for older Americans. It is a new millennium with new challenges.
Congressman Weygand is currently serving his second term as a member of Congress representing Rhode Islands’ Second Congressional District. He is a candidate for U.S. Senate.
