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Legislative Update: How Long Will We Allow Drug Manufacturers To Write Our Laws? By Michael Ouellette, Director of Legislative Affairs, TSCL Not only are drug companies top spenders in lobbying Congress, they’re a force in campaign fund-raising as well. In the 1998 election they contributed $13.1 million to House and Senate candidates. Clearly their efforts have paid off in government policy that tends to favor drug company profits at the expense of U.S. senior drug consumers. There are signs that change may be ahead. In January, drug company executives announced they now want to work with President Clinton and Congress to establish Medicare coverage of prescription drugs this year. In the past the pharmaceutical industry said it would accept Medicare coverage of prescription drugs only as part of a comprehensive plan to reform Medicare. Drug companies charged that Medicare coverage would lead to government price controls. Drug industry spokesmen have suggested that the government could make money available to private insurance companies and pharmaceutical benefit managers who could buy drugs and negotiate discounts on behalf of people in traditional Medicare fee-for-service program. The ideas is similar in some aspects to President Clinton’s prescription drug plan. We urge TSCL members to remain on-guard and keep up the pressure on your elected officials, however. The overtures could be a ploy to take heat off the industry, but could also be a catalyst for negotiations—especially if Medicare drug coverage is seen by drug manufacturers as inevitable, and they want to make the best deal possible. Who do you want to write your new laws for you? The drug companies? Or will it be you? We fully expect there to be enormous pressure on Members of Congress to design a prescription drug benefit under Medicare that continues to favor drug companies in some way. For the best prescription drug plan for current and future Medicare recipients, your input is needed now. If a Member of Congress is to have the gumption to stand against those big drug dollars, something needs to happen. They need to know you won’t accept anything less. We urge you to write to your Member of the House, your Senators and President Clinton asking them to add prescription drug coverage to Medicare. This article first appeared in Volume 5, Issue 5 of "The Social Security and Medicare Advisor" newsletter (April/2000). To receive future editions of "The Advisor" in its special, free e-mail version, please click here. | ||||||||
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