Herb Kohl: “I rise to strongly support final passage of S. 812, the Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act. I cosponsored…”

“I rise to strongly support final passage of S. 812, the Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act. I cosponsored this important legislation because I believe it will benefit every American by ensuring that more affordable generic drugs get to market on time and lower costs for consumers as promised. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this bill will save American consumers $60 billion over the next 10 years. Prescription drug spending represents 9 percent of all health care costs, but drug spending grew 17 percent in 2001--and it's the fastest growing part of health care. Generic drugs can cost one-quarter of the price of their brand-name counterparts. In a time when health care costs are soaring in the double-digits annually, that is no small point. The pharmaceutical industry enjoys the highest profit margins of any sector in the American economy. Drug companies argue that high retail costs reflect the high cost of investment in research and development. I applaud the drug companies' efforts to find new lifesaving treatments and cures for patients and I do not argue with their right to make a healthy profit from their work. It is important to note that many of the gains in pharmaceutical research are made possible by the substantial, taxpayer-funded research investments of the National Institutes of Health and other Federal grants.”