Alliance Report Examines Effect of High Drug Prices
October 11, 2007 - Millions of Americans are finding high drug prices to be a major barrier to maintaining an acceptable quality of life, according to a new report from the Alliance for Retired Americans.
“Outrageous Fortune: How the Drug Industry Profits from Pills” examines the effects of high drug prices and finds since 2001, America’s seniors are struggling more than ever to afford the medications they need to live comfortably and even survive.
Prescription drug spending in 2005 was $200.7 billion, compared to $40.3 billion in 1990, according to the report, which also found at the same time CEOs at the seven pharmaceutical companies with the highest revenues made over $142 million in 2005.
The report also found that many of the manufacturers’ development efforts are not for new drugs, but rather for copies of existing medications, which keep patents fresh and patient costs high.
“Ultimately, the best and most comprehensive approach to providing affordable prescription drugs for all the American people is to create a high quality, affordable, universal health care system, which provides comprehensive services and is based on a sound financing model similar to Medicare,” the report concludes.
“Outrageous Fortune” was prepared by Dianna Porter, Director of Policy with the Alliance’s Department of Government and Political Affairs, for the Alliance of Retired Americans Educational Fund.
Video: Uninsured America
September 27, 2007 - Families USA, a national non-profit voice for health care, just came out with startling statistics about uninsured Americans. According to their data, the health insurance issue in the U.S. is worse than it looks.
Watch the video here.
Do Insurance Companies Make You Sick?
September 26, 2007 - As the House and Senate debate whether to end large taxpayer subsidies to private insurance companies who run Medicare Advantage plans, a recent article in the Washington Post underscores the tremendous power of the health insurance lobby on Capitol Hill.
On August 1, the House voted to strip $50 billion over five years out of Medicare Advantage, a program in which every person in traditional Medicare pays an additional $2 more per month in premiums to subsidize overpayment to health insurance companies.
However, after intense lobbying from the health insurance industry, the House might soon bow to the Senate and spare the program from any cuts.
Click here to visit the Alliance for Retired Americans and send a message to Congress telling them to stand up to the health insurance lobby and stop Medicare Advantage overpayments.
Video: Protecting Programs That Work
September 19, 2007 - The Alliance for Retired Americans is a substantial voice for senior issues and one that may impact the next presidential race.
Watch the video here.
Number of Americans Without Health Insurance Escalates
August 30, 2007 - In a report just released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Americans without health insurance rose to 47 million in 2006, up from 44.9 million in 2005. Lack of access to private health insurance, including employer-provided coverage, is cited as the major cause for the rising rate of uninsured.
The report, “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006”, said minorities, children ages 12 to 17 and children living in poverty continue to be the most uninsured of all. While low-income families were the hardest hit, the report also found that the number of working Americans ages 18 to 64 without health insurance had increased. Even government-sponsored health programs like Medicaid, Medicare and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) covered fewer Americans than before.
This information comes just as the Bush Administration is fighting to stop states from expanding SCHIP, which was created in 1997 to insure children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to purchase health insurance. The poverty level set by the federal government for a family of four is $20,650 in annual income. Because that figure is so low and unrealistic, many states had received federal approval to insure children with family incomes at least twice the poverty level.
Yet the White House only wants to make it harder for the working poor and middle class to get insurance coverage. The Administration outlined new, harsh standards in a letter slyly sent to the states while Congress is out of session. The new standards severely restrict the states’ ability to extend SCHIP to children whose families earn more than the federal poverty level. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle will be working on legislation to expand SCHIP, which expires September 30, when they return from recess. Bush has already threatened veto.
Medicare Costing Elderly More
August 22, 2007 – A new study posted on the Web site of the journal Health Affairs has found elderly Americans in Medicare’s prescription drug program are more likely to pay at least $300 a month for medicines than those on other plans.
The report also found that Medicare recipients were also more likely to delay or forgo filling prescriptions because of the cost.
Read more from Bloomberg.com.
House Vote Aids Children, Seniors
August 6, 2007 – The House last week passed the Children’s Health Insurance and Medicare Act of 2007, legislation that would aid both children and older Americans.
In addition to providing an additional $50 billion over five years to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the bill would also expand coverage for preventive health screening for seniors under Medicare and would provide $19 billion over five years to prevent scheduled cuts to physician reimbursements under Medicare.
Read more from the Alliance for Retired Americans.
Monday is National Call-in Day For Stopping Medicare Advantage Overpayments
July 20, 2007 - Your U.S. Representative needs to hear from informed seniors! Please join other Alliance members across the country by calling your Representative on Monday and urging support for legislation that would create a level playing field for traditional Medicare and private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.
Use this toll-free telephone number — 1-800-828-0498 — to call the Capitol Switchboard.
Read more from the Alliance for Retired Americans.
Medicare National Call in Day
July 17, 2007 – The Alliance for Retired Americans will be staging a national call-in day on Monday July 23, asking their members to contact their lawmakers and urge them to put an end to federal subsidies for insurance companies offering “Medicare Advantage” plans.
The subsidies end up costing the government 12 to 19 percent more than traditional Medicare would, according to the Alliance.
The Alliance will provide a phone number in this week’s Friday Alert.
Read more from the Alliance for Retired Americans.
Campaign is Launched to Stop the Privatization of Medicare
June 11, 2007 - On Thursday, leading Medicare experts and advocates launched a campaign at the U.S. Capitol to stop the privatization of Medicare. The reason behind the campaign is a secret effort to privatize Medicare by the Bush Administration, just two years after President Bush unsuccessfully tried to privatize Social Security.
Speakers at the launch, including Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance, as well as other members of the Americans United for Change coalition, detailed how the Medicare Advantage program - a program which provides huge subsidies to big insurance companies - actually costs the Medicare program and taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. “This year alone, American taxpayers will overpay the insurance industry $7.5 billion more than it would otherwise cost Medicare to serve the same people,” Mr. Coyle said. “And it is estimated that this cost will reach $160 billion over the next ten years.”
A major battle looms in Congress over the future of the so-called “Medicare Advantage” program, which many advocates consider to be a form of corporate welfare that and is part of a wider, misguided privatization effort threatening the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund.
Prices of Common Medicare Drugs Up
May 21, 2007 - A study recently published in the Washington Post found the costs for many of the most commonly prescribed medications are continuing to rise under Medicare’s new prescription drug plan.
The House Oversight and Government Reform investigators say prices for 10 of the most prescribed brand-name medications have shot up an average of 6.8 percent since December under Medicare private insurance plans.
Read more from the Alliance for Retired Americans.
Read the Washington Post report.
Senate's FDA Bill Will Not Allow Consumers to Re-import Prescription Drugs
May 11, 2007 - By a vote of 93 to 1, the Senate passed a bill on Wednesday that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) new power to police drug safety, regulate advertising and restrict the use and distribution of medicines found to endanger consumers. However, "drug company executives succeeded in their efforts to block a proposal to legalize imports of lower-priced medicines from Canada," the New York Times wrote on Thursday.
Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT) cast the lone "no" vote, saying he was extremely disappointed that the bill did not legalize re-importation. Sen. Byron Dorgan's (D-ND) proposal to allow consumers to import prescription drugs from abroad was modified and adopted, but lawmakers and advocates agree that in its current form, the drug importation proposal will never take effect. Sen. Dorgan's amendment was approved in a voice vote.
In spite of this, lawmakers voted 49-40 in favor of an amendment from Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) that required assent from the Secretary of Health and Human Services for the provision to go into effect, effectively killing re-importation.
Read more from the Alliance For Retired Americans here.
U.S. Senate Clears Way for Prescription Drug Reimportation Votes
May 4, 2007 - The Senate broke a filibuster Thursday by a 63-28 vote on Sen. Byron Dorgan's (D-ND) amendment to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorization bill that would permit the legal reimportation of prescription drugs. However, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) has now introduced an amendment to the Dorgan amendment that would require the FDA to first certify that reimported drugs are safe.
The Cochran amendment would kill reimportation, because the Bush Administration has refused to implement such certification in the past. The vote on the Cochran and Dorgan amendments will occur on Monday, May 7.
Call your senators using this toll free number: 1-877-331-1223, and ask that they vote against the Cochran amendment and for a clean Dorgan amendment.
Read more from the Alliance For Retired Americans here.
EFCA Would Lead to More Expansive Health Insurance
May 2, 2007 – A new report from the Campaign for America’s future says if the Employee Free Choice Act becomes law, 3.5 million more people could receive health insurance and 2.7 million could gain pension benefits.
After making its way through the House in March, the Employee Free Choice Act is currently in the Senate. It would enable workers to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions by strengthening their rights to form unions.
Send a message to your Senator urging them to support the Employee Free Choice Act by clicking here.
Read the report here.
Video: Health Care For All
April 24, 2007 - From the politicians in Washington to the family next door, everyone seems to be concerned with health care costs.
Watch the video here.
GOP to Seniors: Drop Dead
April 20, 2007 - Senate Republicans denied many seniors the opportunity to have their prescription drug prices lowered this week when they blocked legislation that would have allowed the government to negotiate Medicare drug prices.
In a mostly party line vote, Senate lawmakers blocked debate on a bill that would have allowed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate prescription drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries. Sixty votes were needed to move the bill forward.
"It's time for Congress to put the needs of seniors first. Yet what did our Republican colleagues do today? They blocked us from debating a bill to allow Medicare to negotiate to get better drug prices,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA). “Time and again, the interests of the drug industry are put ahead of the interests of the elderly."
House Democrats pushed through similar legislation in January as part of their 100 hour legislative blitz aimed at improving the lives of working families.
AARP to Fund Corporate Health Care Initiatives
April 18, 2007 - The AARP announced they will use revenues from collaborations with insurance giants United Healthcare and Aetna to fund lobbying efforts on behalf of their “Divided We Fail” campaign, an alliance with the SEIU and the Business Roundtable that could threaten genuine health care reform.
Congressional Quarterly reports the AARP will bring in $4.4 billion over the next seven years as a result of the agreements, which will cover AARP-branded Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D and Medicare Supplement plans.
AARP President Bill Novelli told reporters more than $400 million of the $628 million per year will be used to fund a huge lobbying effort aimed at expanding the “Divided We Fail” campaign, which Steve Pearlstein in the Washington Post said is designed to give President Bush political cover by offering repackaged versions of so-called reforms that have been largely supported by corporations and insurance companies.
Medicare Showdown in U.S. Senate: Take Action Now
April 16, 2007 - The Alliance For Retired Americans reports that on April 12, the Senate Finance Committee voted 13-8 in favor of a bill, S. 3, removing the prohibition on Medicare negotiating price discounts with the pharmaceutical companies. It would also force drug plan providers to reveal currently secret pricing data to government watchdogs.
Pressured by a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign, some Senators are planning a filibuster to block the bill when it reaches the Senate floor this week. Additionally, the White House is threatening a veto. In January, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation mandating Medicare price negotiations.
Alliance members are urged to call the U.S. Capitol beginning today at 1-877-331-1223 to be connected to their Senators and voice their support for the bill.
You can also tell your Senator to support Seniors by clicking here.
Senate Democrats to Turn Attention to Prescription Drug Prices
April 11, 2007 – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said yesterday that Senate Democrats will soon turn their attention to passing legislation that would allow the government to negotiate drug prices on behalf of Medicare participants.
As part of their 100-hour legislative blitz, House Democrats passes similar legislation in January by a vote of 255 – 170.
A recent poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows 85 percent of Americans support allowing the government to negotiate prescription drug prices for the Medicare program. Despite this broad public support, President Bush has said he would veto the bill if it gets through the Senate.
Read the entire Associated Press article here.
Negotiating Drug Prices Would Save Taxpayers $30 Billion
April 5, 2007 – Allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices would save taxpayers $30 billion annually, according to a report from Institute for America’s Future.
The U.S. House has already passed legislation that eliminates a provision in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 that prohibits the government from interfering in negotiations between Part D plan participants and drug makers. Senate Democrats will likely push for a vote on the issue shortly after the Congressional recess.
Read the report – The Waste and Inefficiency of the Bush Prescription Drug Plan
Video: Health Care
March 16, 2007 - It’s a cry from the heart…for Congress to act…as a health care crisis consumes a single mom from Maryland.
Watch the video here.
Negotiating Drug Prices Could Save Up to $30 Billion
March 9, 2007 – A new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research shows if Medicare was to negotiate prices directly with the pharmaceutical industry, it could save the government and beneficiaries more than $30 billion a year.
“The Medicare drug benefit designed by Congress in the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act created a program that is unnecessarily costly,” the report says. “The excess costs associated with the Medicare prescription drug benefit dwarf the cost of many of the programs that are viewed as crucial by much of the public. For this reason, there is good cause to take the unnecessary expense associated with Medicare Part D very seriously.”
Read the report here.
Health Care Costs Will Continue to Climb
March 1, 2007 – In just 10 years, health care costs will account for $1 in every $5 spent in the United States. The Alliance for Retired Americans recently highlighted a report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Associated Press reinforcing the severity of this country’s health care crisis.
Today, health care costs account for roughly $1 in every $6 spent. The increase would mean a rise in out-of-pocket expenses from about $850 this year to about $1,400 in 2016.
Read more from the Alliance For Retired Americans.
The President's Risky Health Plan
January 26, 2007 - The new health care proposals announced by President Bush this week purport to tackle the two toughest problems confronting the American health care system: the rising number of uninsured Americans and the escalating costs of medical care.
But on both counts, they fall miles short of what is needed to fix a system where — scandalously — 47 million Americans go without health insurance. Read the New York Times Article here.
House Passes Medicare Prescription Drug Bill
January 12, 2007 – The House on Friday passed the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007 (H.R. 4), a bill that requires the Secretary of HHS to negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of those who are enrolled in Medicare prescription drug plans. The bill also requires HHS to report to Congress every 6 months on the progress of drug price negotiations.
“Today’s vote is a resounding victory for America’s seniors over the special interests,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said in a statement. “As pharmaceutical companies reap record profits, it is clear that the President’s flawed prescription drug plan is benefiting drug companies more than America’s seniors and people with disabilities.”
Giving the federal government the ability to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices is a key issue in the Democratic pledge to push through an array of legislation in their first 100 hours in power that would benefit middle class Americans.
Prescription Drugs IU: House Set to Take Up Medicare Drug Prices Friday
January 10, 2007 – This coming Friday the House will take up the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007 (H.R. 4), a bill that would require the Secretary of HHS to negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of those who are enrolled in Medicare prescription drug plans. The bill would also require HHS to report to Congress every 6 months on the progress of drug price negotiations.
To take action and help secure lower prescription drug prices click here.
Americans Support Changes in Medicare Program
January 2, 2007 - A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows 85 percent of Americans support allowing the government to negotiate prescription drug prices for the Medicare program.
Additional findings from the poll include:
• 79 percent of those polled favor waiving the penalty for late enrollment so seniors can learn more about the drug benefit before they decide whether or not to enroll.
• 71 percent of those polled favor spending more federal money to get rid of the existing coverage gap/doughnut hole.
• Only 24 percent of those polled favor keeping the program exactly as it is.
As part of their “100 Hour War”, House Democrats have pledged to repeal a provision in the 2003 Medicare drug benefit law that prevents the government from engaging in drug price negotiations.
