Greg Ganske: “Or, for example, someone's local pharmacist would be able to order that drug from the wholesaler at the lower price and…”

“Or, for example, someone's local pharmacist would be able to order that drug from the wholesaler at the lower price and would be able to pass those savings on to the consumer. That is why this idea passed the House of Representatives with 350-plus votes just a year or so ago. But I believe, then, that the opponents to that legislation brought forward this issue of the fact that there are fake drugs that are occasionally found and then used that to try to knock down the whole idea of increased competition from overseas. Really, the solution is simply, both within the United States and from drugs that could come in from abroad, making sure that the FDA does its job. This is part of a bill that I introduced on prescription drugs. The other main aspect of that bill is that for low-income seniors, we would allow them to utilize the State Medicaid drug programs up to 175 percent of poverty and get a Medicaid card and be able to go to their local pharmacist; and I believe that there is a way to work with the pharmaceutical houses on that issue and avoid a national drug pricing mechanism. That is a little different issue, but the idea that the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht) has, I think, is a legitimate one, and it basically is a free market approach. It just makes the market a little bigger.”