Frank Lautenberg: “I wish to now discuss my amendment, which is fair and simple. It prohibits increases in the pharmacy copayments of our…”

“I wish to now discuss my amendment, which is fair and simple. It prohibits increases in the pharmacy copayments of our military families and military retirees they purchase at retail pharmacies. These families are part of the military's health insurance program called TRICARE. The price of everything going up so rapidly now hardly seems the time to ask the people who have sacrificed for our country--many who have been in harms way--to pay more for their prescription drugs. It is incomprehensible. My amendment, cosponsored by Senators Stabenow, Bingaman, Harkin, Lincoln, Menendez, Mikulski, Landrieu, Lieberman, Kerry, and Murray, is very simply a prohibition on increasing, at this point in time, the copayments that veterans and active duty families have to pay for prescription drugs. The amendment is very simple. It says no, n-o, at increase on pharmacy copays through the end of fiscal year 2007. We ask military our families to make enormous sacrifices for our country, and now we want to saddle them with higher health care costs? It doesn't make sense. The administration is proposing to increase the cost of TRICARE prescription drug copayments from $9 to $15 for brand- name drugs. This is, indeed, a hardship. It means that over a 5-year period, prescription drug prices will rise by 70 percent for military families--far outstripping the 24-percent increase in military pay or the 14-percent increase in retirement pay over the same period.…”