John Yarmuth: “I tell you this, Mr. Speaker, because Medicare Part D is buying up the whole lot of prescription drugs and still paying…”

“I tell you this, Mr. Speaker, because Medicare Part D is buying up the whole lot of prescription drugs and still paying sticker price. Last year, this institution offered a plan intended to save seniors from paying the exorbitant cost of prescription drugs. Now most of them feel cheated by an overly complicated system, many of them aren't saving any money, and a good number of them are actually paying higher prices than they were before. And because we aren't negotiating on their behalf, we can't even tell our struggling Americans that we're doing the best we can. Medicare part D was written for drug companies, by drug companies, and it should be no surprise, it's benefiting drug companies. This policy has yielded windfall profits for big pharmaceuticals, at the expense of our older Americans. We can do better. America expects better. And our seniors deserve better. I urge my colleagues to pass this common sense measure.”