Political Quotes

“This legislation is going to help make healthcare more affordable and more accessible. There are two things: One, we finally are attacking the explosion in the cost of prescription drugs, and I thank my Republican colleagues for participating in that effort. In Vermont, we just had a 16 percent rate increase for requests from Blue Cross Blue Shield, and 9 percent of that is attributable to the increase in pharma costs. This is happening because pharma has been ripping us off for far too long. This bill does two things: One, it ends their abusive, outrageous practice of paying generic companies to delay bringing their lower cost drug to the market. There is no excuse for that. This bill ends it. The second thing it does is deny pharma the opportunity to withhold samples so that generic companies can come up with a competitive product. That is tremendous, it is overdue, and it is just the beginning. Second, this makes healthcare more accessible by funding navigators. My colleagues disregard that, but, in fact, navigators help people make the complicated decision about what is the best healthcare plan for them. It also provides money for outreach. We want folks to know what is available for them, make the best choice, and have the security of healthcare. Finally, there will be protection for the auto enrollment program. Everybody is busy. If the default position is you are back in the plan you had, that is good. There is security in that.…”