October 6: Kaptur, Colleagues Urge ‘Super Committee’ to Allow Government to Negotiate Lower Drug Prices

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur today joined 77 Democratic colleagues in urging the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to require the government to negotiate prescription drug prices under Medicare Part D.

"The select committee has a golden opportunity to cut the deficit while helping seniors save money on drug prices and strengthening Medicare by keeping costs lower," said Congresswoman Kaptur.

At the insistence of Republicans, Congress in 2003 prohibited the federal government from negotiating with pharmaceutical companies to obtain lower drug prices, thus preserving the drug companies' profits from one of their biggest customers, Medicare. A 2008 report by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform revealed that negotiated prices could would save taxpayers $156 billion and Medicare beneficiaries $27 billion over a 10-year period.

The committee found that the cost of providing the leading 100 drugs to beneficiaries who are eligible under both Medicare and Medicaid was 30 percent higher under Medicare. Along that line, a recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services found that Medicaid's net costs for the 100 most-prescribed brand name drugs were approximately one third lower than the same drugs under Medicare Part D.

"(A)llowing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate prescription drug prices as she does for Medicaid beneficiaries would lead to significant deficit reduction in the future without sacrificing seniors' benefits," the Members of Congress wrote.

"We have the opportunity to dramatically curb the costs, and at a time of tough budgets for both families and the government, we simply cannot afford to leave these real savings on the table."

The letter was signed by three members of the Ohio congressional delegation: Kaptur, Marcia Fudge and Dennis Kucinich.