Frank Pallone: “I want to follow up on two things that the gentleman mentioned with this chart. The gentleman spoke about the…”

“I want to follow up on two things that the gentleman mentioned with this chart. The gentleman spoke about the reimportation from Canada which is not allowed now, and the other is negotiating the prices, which the VA does. And the gentleman is a champion of the veterans; and even though the Republican Congress and the President have cut back on a lot of health care funding for veterans, they at least allow the negotiated discount, but they will not allow it for seniors. Earlier this year, the Committee on Government Reform senior Democrat, the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), conducted a comprehensive report comparing the new Republican discount drug cards with three other sets of prices; and what the gentleman did was compare the drug card prices to those that individuals pay for the same drug in Canada; and, second, compare prices of those for drugs purchased by the Federal Government on the Federal Supply Schedule, and those are the prices that are negotiated by the Department of Veteran Affairs and are available to a number of Federal agencies, including the VA, Department of Defense, and also the Coast Guard.”