“Thank you for holding this hearing today on the very important issue of how to help low income seniors with their drug costs. 

“This is an issue that is critically important to our most vulnerable constituents.  Seniors back in my district in Louisiana have to regularly make difficult choices about how they will be able to purchase their prescription drugs.  They want to know how we can help then right now, and not just two or three years from now – the time it will take to implement any comprehensive Medicare drug benefit. 

“Make no mistake – transitional programs for low-incomes cannot and should not substitute for a comprehensive Medicare drug benefit.  I continue to be absolutely committed to working with my colleagues to enact such a Medicare drug benefit this year.  In fact, I expect that we will be moving legislation through the Committee within the next month that will create precisely this type of new Medicare benefit.  It is my sincere hope that all of us in Congress can agree to pass this bill and send it to the President for his immediate approval. 

“Any new benefit we enact will take several years to get up and running.  In the meantime, however, we need to ensure that many of our low-income seniors gain better access to drug coverage and some of the price discounts that are available in the private market.  This hearing will highlight some of the initiatives that the Administration, States and the private sector are already pursuing to provide assistance to low-income seniors.  Hopefully, some of these examples can provide models for what we in Congress can do to assist these seniors with their drug costs.  The new Together Rx drug discount card and the Senior Rx program in Nevada are two exciting examples of such models that use private, market based forces to reduce drug costs for low-income seniors right now. 

“The Together Rx card will allow between eight and eleven million eligible Medicare beneficiaries with individual incomes of up to $28,000 to obtain significant discounts on 150 drugs made by the seven drug manufacturers who have agreed to participate in the program.  It is estimated that these discounts will average between 20 and 40 percent, and will be passed along through the over 13,000 pharmacies that have agreed to serve in the Together Rx card network. This will mean real savings that will make an important difference in the lives of seniors who obtain this card. 

“Now, some may attempt to argue that the discounts under this program are relatively insignificant and will not truly help seniors.  Seniors know better, however, which is why almost 100,000 of them have asked about enrolling in Together Rx since the new program was first announced last week. 

“Governor Guinn and his colleagues in the Nevada legislature should also be commended for coming up with a new and innovative model for assisting low-income seniors with their drug costs.  Under the Nevada Senior Rx program, low-income seniors are able to receive their drugs and only pay modest co-payments.  The State utilizes an insurance company that manages the program, which in turn contracts with a Pharmacy Benefit Manager to negotiate discounted drug prices for plan participants.  Senior Rx cost Nevada only six million dollars last year, and it provided drug coverage for 6,000 low-income seniors, all of which was done without creating a major new state bureaucracy to manage this new benefit! 

“I also look forward to hearing more about the discount card idea contemplated by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.  It is good to see that they are becoming an advocate for the drug discount card concept. 

“I would be remiss if I did not take the time to also thank Mark McClellan for appearing today.  He and the Administration should be congratulated for their excellent work in developing their proposals to provide assistance to low-income seniors.  I look forward to working with Mark and this Administration to develop a comprehensive Medicare modernization bill – one that includes a universal prescription drug benefit and targeted reforms.  We are fortunate to have an Administration so closely engaged in these important issues.  With your help, Mark, as well as the help of all of the Members here today, perhaps we can find enough common ground to solve these vexing issues this year.  I want to thank all of the witnesses for appearing today and will look forward to hearing their testimony.”

Prescription Drugs