Lucille Roybal-Allard: “on behalf of the millions of seniors and individuals with disabilities, I rise in support of H.R. 4, the Medicare…”

“on behalf of the millions of seniors and individuals with disabilities, I rise in support of H.R. 4, the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007. And I thank our Speaker Nancy Pelosi for making this issue one of the first priorities of the 110th Congress. The Medicare Prescription Drug benefit that passed in the 108th Congress was supposed to help control the rising costs of prescription drugs. But it has failed. According to a Families USA study, during the first 6 months of 2006, the median price for the top 20 drugs prescribed for seniors among Medicare drug plans actually rose by 3.7 percent. What that means is that over the course of the full year, drug prices increased by as much as 7.4 percent, more than twice the rate of inflation. The Medicare Prescription Drug benefit that was passed in 2003 is simply not controlling the escalating prices of life saving medications for our seniors and those with disabilities. An even more tragic consequence of the current drug benefit is that last year millions of Americans reached what is known as the ``donut hole gap'' in coverage. Many are from my own district in Los Angeles. This gap means that in addition to having to continue to pay their premiums without the benefit of their coverage, they are required to spend almost $3,000 out of their own pocket for their medications before their benefits are restored.”