Marilyn Strickland: “And the reason it was so difficult to pass this bill is because it was not a bill that was written for the seniors; it…”

“And the reason it was so difficult to pass this bill is because it was not a bill that was written for the seniors; it was a bill that benefits the pharmaceutical companies and the insurance companies. It explicitly forbids the Secretary of HHS from negotiating with the pharmaceutical companies to get cheaper drugs for our seniors. The Veterans Administration gets discounts for the veterans of this country. They are able to save between 40 up to 60 percent on the drugs, and yet this legislation specifically prohibits that. There is only one reason, and that is because the pharmaceutical companies insisted that language be in this bill. The second really terrible part of this bill... it specifically prohibits the reimportation of cheaper drugs from Canada unless the Secretary gives his approval, and he said he is not going to do that. So what do we have here? We have a discount card that provides a level of discount that does not even in most cases match the increase that has occurred over the last few months. Seniors know what is going on.”