The price of the 50 prescription drugs most popular with senior citizens jumped 4 percent last year -- nearly twice the rate of inflation.  One in three retired Americans -- a total of at least 13 million -- have no prescription drug coverage.  This problem is not limited to low-income seniors however. 

This presents a hopeless situation for seniors as they must literally choose between their essential medication and being able to eat at the end of the month because they rely on a fixed income.  This is unacceptable and in order to control the sky-rocketing prices of these drugs, Congress needs to fund a real prescription drug benefit through Medicare and ensure that these medications are sold at the same prices here in the U.S. as they are in Canada and other countries.

The solution to this nightmare comes in three parts.  First, Congress must agree to fund a Medicare Prescription drug benefit.  Many argue that the cost of doing so prohibits such a program.  However, I would argue that the cost of complications and hospitalization of these seniors as a result of their failure to take their medication is already being shifted to the taxpayer.  Seniors who suffer strokes and heart attacks because of inadequate prescription coverage suffer a loss in quality of life--and taxpayers foot the bill in the form of higher Medicare hospitalization costs. The cost of this program--$40 billion over the next 5 years, represents approximately four-tenths of one percent of all federal spending and represents less than ten percent of the projected budget surplus.  Certainly we can afford this modest benefit for the generation that fought and won World War II, financed and won the Cold War, and paid for the taxes that built the education system that is the foundation of the new dot-com economy.

For seniors enrolled in Medicare Choice Plus, premium shock became a reality this year when premiums jumped from little or nothing to over $100 a month in many cases--for FEWER benefits.  This is at the same time that our neighbors in suburban Philadelphia saw premium increases of only $25 or $30 per month--still a lot of money but a lot less than we are paying.  On Feb 4, I demanded that the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) that administers Medicare, order the rollback of these undeserved premiums.  HCFA has agreed to do the audits necessary to facilitate these rollbacks and the results are due soon.  I will continue to press for these premium rollbacks so that South Jerseyans are treated fairly..

Finally, Congress should pass legislation ensuring that American seniors get the best deal out there--certainly as good as the deal offered to the federal government itself and to foreign consumers..  A recent government study shows that on average, uninsured seniors pay twice as much for their medications as bulk purchasers like HMOs and the federal government.  They pay 72 and 102 percent more, respectively, than consumers in Canada and Mexico. This practice of American's subsidizing the rest of the globe's lower drug prices, must end. 

To address this concern, Representative Allen has introduced H.R. 664, the Prescription Drug Fairness for Seniors Act of which I am an original cosponsor, which would enable the federal government to negotiate a group discount for Medicare beneficiaries of up to 40 percent, saving seniors money and making a Medicare prescription drug benefit more affordable for taxpayers.  By doing so, the federal government would help to control costs as it would set prices for the manufacturers and have much more bargaining power than the individual senior.

We have an important choice before us in the remaining months of this Congress.  Do we use a small portion of the budget surplus to give senior citizens much needed help so they can afford their required medication.  Or, do we watch as seniors lose their hard-earned savings--and sometimes their lives?  On Wednesday, Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott said that there will be a prescription drug benefit, but probably not in an election year.  He said the question "was not if…but when."  I say we should act now. Our seniors and disabled persons have waited long enough for action from this Congress and now that we have the ability to do so, it is time to pass a real Medicare prescription drug plan.