On the recordApril 7, 2004
What we have in this new law adds insult to injury. Not only could we keep the system which everybody knows about, which is the traditional Medicare, we could have done a traditional prescription drug benefit through Medicare. It is less expensive. It is more efficient. We could have provided a better benefit. But on top of that, Medicare is not allowed to use their clout to negotiate lower prices. The VA does it. We know if we were to negotiate on behalf of 40 million Medicare beneficiaries, we could dramatically bring down the price. The problem is the pharmaceutical industry knows that, too, and they were successful, unfortunately, with their six lobbyists for every one Member of the Senate to get that language in this bill.
Source
govinfo.gov
