Special Interest Senator Takes Record Amounts from Big Drug Companies, Minnesota Seniors Left Holding the Bag

Al Franken Proposes Major Reforms to Lower Prescription Drug Prices

Saint Paul [07/30/08] – Joined today by Minnesota seniors at a local pharmacy, U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken proposed major reforms to bring down prescription drug prices.

Al Franken:

“George W. Bush and Norm Coleman have sold out Minnesota seniors to their special interests pals at the drug companies – and it’s got to stop. Today, as we learn about the true cost of that betrayal, I’m laying out concrete steps we can take to bring down prescription drug prices. It’s time we had a Senator who stood up for Minnesota – not with George Bush and the special interests.”

Franken’s proposal comes after a new report was released detailing the disastrous effects of policies promoted by President Bush and Republican Senator Norm Coleman (R – Pharma).

Eighty-two percent of Minnesota seniors age 65 and over take at least one prescription drug on a daily basis – and the average Minnesota senior who takes prescriptions pays $85 monthly out-of-pocket. Nearly one-fourth spend more than $100 a month out-of-pocket.

Under Medicaid, the government negotiates with drug companies for lower prices. But the Medicare Part D legislation supported by Norm Coleman prohibits the government from doing so in Medicare’s privatized Part D program. According to the report by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, this costs taxpayers up to 30% more for their prescriptions.

Meanwhile, big drug companies are making enormous profits, taking in an additional $3.7 billion over two years thanks to Coleman’s plan (Bristol-Myers made an additional $400 million from the higher prices for just one drug, Plavix). And they’re rewarding Coleman with enormous contributions, giving him the dubious distinction of taking more money from Big Pharma than any other Minnesota politician in history.

Franken offered the following proposals to lower prices and improve outcomes for Minnesota seniors:

1. A fair deal for seniors. Franken will repeal the law preventing Medicare from negotiating drug costs with drug makers and empower the government to use its size to get a better deal for seniors, with safeguards to preserve access. He will give Medicare beneficiaries the choice to pick a public plan for their prescription drugs.
2. Allow reimportation. Franken would support the safe reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada, which could save consumers $50 billion over 10 years. As a border state, Minnesota could see significant economic benefits as well.
3. Protect patients against greedy drug companies. Franken will ban direct-to-consumer drug advertising, which only serves to drum up pharmaceutical sales by encouraging patients to specifically request medication that their medical providers might otherwise not have prescribed. He will also strengthen the FDA’s capacity to approve generics of blockbuster drugs.

Read the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s report here:
http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20080724101850.pdf

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 14:57 and is filed under Press Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.