On the recordJuly 25, 2017
As so often happens here, this bill bears a somewhat grander title than its contents. Medicare part B certainly does need improvement. While I support putting into statute what is already administrative practice, extending a demonstration project that appears to be working and the other provisions that my colleagues have worked on in this bill, I think much more should have happened. It is especially ironic that, at the very moment we are considering this bill, the United States Senate across the hall is proposing to eliminate healthcare coverage for millions of Americans. Certainly, this Republican repeal effort does far more harm to far more people than we can collectively undo here in the House with this rather modest piece of legislation. And there is one glaring omission from today's Medicare Improvement Act, one subject that the Republican leadership of the House Ways and Means Committee fears. It fears not only doing something about this problem, it fears about even understanding the extent of the problem, and it certainly fears having any public hearings to explore this subject. That is the menace that is affecting millions of people across this country: pharmaceutical price gouging. This bill fails to address any aspect of soaring pharmaceutical costs of part B medications.…
