[Ip-health] Price Controls: Collaboration Partners!

[George M. Carter]

Now, here they suggest that price controls/regulation aren't on the table
due to the Medicare act. As I understand it, that prevents federal
negotiation--but I don't think it rules out price control regulation, does
it? If it does, then that bit of lethal legislation will have to be reverse=
d.

Of course, no one is suggesting that such a campaign demanding price
control legislation will happen under the despicable, lying and criminal
Bush administration...which is why it must be made a top issue in the
Democratic campaign. Failure for them to do so will only drive more
Americans into cynical indifference and a sense that our government is
indefensibly and irreparably corrupted.
George M. Carter


***
Congress sells out seniors with new drug plan
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/7506752.htm?tem...
Posted on Wed, Dec. 17, 2003
Congress sells out seniors with new drug plan
BY BARBARA KAUFMAN

Guest Columnist
With the signing of the Prescription Drug and Medicare Reform Act by
President Bush,
Congress and the administration have lost a historic opportunity to provide
meaningful,
affordable prescription drug coverage.

The winners are multinational pharmaceutical companies that have bought the
finest
Congress money can buy. The losers are not only Medicare beneficiaries but
all American
taxpayers.

The Minnesota Senior Federation has fought for more than a decade to lower
the cost of
prescriptions for not only all Minnesotans, but all Americans.

Eight years ago, the Senior Federation pioneered prescription drug runs to
Canada, a
country with a safer drug supply than the U.S., where participants continue
to save an
average of 49 percent on their drug costs. This year we launched a program
with the
nation's first consumer-negotiated Canadian pharmacy prices. An AARP
Bulletin survey (April
2003) of six drugs revealed that Senior Federation Importation Program
prices were 54
percent less than U.S. mail order and 12 percent less than other Canadian
pharmacies. The
Senior Federation Canadian Importation program has received national
acclaim and is
serving as the model for Gov. Tim Pawlenty's Canadian Importation initiativ=
e.
 From these experiences, the federation believes the only way to achieve
affordable
prescription drug prices is through lowering and curtailing the cost of
those drugs. The
United States stands alone as the only industrialized country refusing to
put the needs of the
American people ahead of the profiteering of the pharmaceutical companies.
As a result,
Americans (insured and uninsured), pay prices as much as twice as high as
the rest of the
industrialized world.

There are only two ways to lower prescription drug costs in this country.
One is for honest
negotiations and regulation that allows drug companies to have a good but
not excessive
profit to conduct needed research and development. While many may favor
this, it is unlikely
to be adopted in this country, especially as the prescription drug bill
President Bush signed
specifically prohibits price negotiation by the U.S. government.

The second and only viable option is to allow the power of international
free markets to level
the playing field for the cost of prescription drugs. This approach unites
those who firmly
believe in the need for international free trade with those concerned about
providing
significant drug coverage. Led by Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn., the
Pharmaceutical Marketing
Act of 2003 was passed by a historic vote of the House of Representatives
(with both
Democratic and Republican support) in late July. This officially became the
House position in
the Medicare prescription drug negotiations. The bill would have
simultaneously improved
the safety of the drug supply in this country and allowed individuals, U.S.
pharmacies and
wholesalers to purchase from FDA-approved facilities in 25 industrialized
countries. It would
also have saved Medicare beneficiaries and the government $630 billion in
the next 10
years.

While supported by most House members, the House leadership and pharmaceuti=
cal
interests opposed the legislation, as it would lead to lower cost drugs for
all Americans.
Congress succumbed to the money and pressure of the drug industry by not
accepting the
House provisions. Congress then included the Medicare bill's phony Canadian
importation
provision that simultaneously allows for personal Canadian importation and
tells the FDA not
to implement it.

The issue, thanks to courageous congressional leaders and state leadership
led by Pawlenty
and other governors, will not go away. The Senate version of the
Pharmaceutical Marketing
Act (S. 1781) is sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., with significant
co-sponsorship
from Sens. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and John McCain,
R-Ariz. The bill
is very much alive. We ask AARP, Minnesota seniors and all of our congressi=
onal
representatives to join the Senior Federation and other state-based
consumer organizations
to put the needs of the American people ahead of the greed of the
pharmaceutical industry.

When it comes to prescription coverage, "It's the price, stupid."
Kaufman, of Plymouth, is president of the Minnesota Senior Federation-Metro
Region.
=A9 2003 Pioneer Press and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.twincities.com