Frank Pallone: “I appreciate and respect the views of the disability community and their strongly held belief that the use of QALYs in…”

“I appreciate and respect the views of the disability community and their strongly held belief that the use of QALYs in Federal health programs is discriminatory. That is why I do not oppose this amendment. However, the amendment does not cure the problem with the underlying bill. This bill is a Trojan horse that purports to ban discriminatory measures like QALYs but in reality does a lot more. This bill has the potential to ban a broad swath of cost containment measures that are not discriminatory and could harm the very communities that this bill is purported to help. Those with disabilities need access to lower drug prices and healthcare services, and the Federal Government's and States' ability to use nondiscriminatory health measures is essential to bringing down costs. Otherwise, without leverage to get a better deal, we are stuck paying whatever pharma wants. The CBO agrees. That is why they estimate this bill will increase Federal spending by over a billion dollars in the next 10 years and potentially tens of billions of dollars more in the years ahead. For this reason, I do not oppose the amendment, but, unfortunately, it does not resolve my concerns with the underlying bill. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.”