Ehrlich on Washington column, July 3, 2000

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 2 1 093 3 1 5 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of July 3, 2000 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Congressional Remedy on Prescription Drugs Talk is cheap. Prescription drugs are not. They are expensive and getting more expensive every day. Seniors need help now, and Congress is providing the remedy. My colleagues and I in the House of Representatives recently voted to help millions of seniors afford the prescription drugs they need, without jeopardizing the Medicare benefits many already enjoy. We passed H.R. 4680, the Medicare Rx 2000 Act, to offer those most needing seniors the choice of several federally-subsidized prescription drug plans, managed by insurance companies. We cannot allow a situation where people’s lives are put in jeopardy simply because they cannot afford the medicines they need. But Washington-mandated price controls are not the way to go. Every time Washington tries to control something, Washington rules, Washington regulations and Washington bureaucrats get out of control, and we all pay a price in waste, mismanagement and inefficiency. My colleagues and I in Congress rejected those harmful proposals which tried to force seniors into a single take-it-or-leave-it, one-size-fits-all plan administered by a Washington bureaucracy. Instead, we developed a bipartisan remedy that is affordable, available, and voluntary. The House-passed plan gives all seniors the right to choose a prescription drug benefit that best fits their own health care needs. The legislation also guarantees seniors, who already have good coverage, can keep their current plan. The prescription drug plan partners the public sector with the private sector to offer seniors the option of maintaining their current prescription drug coverage or choosing between at least two new separate drug plans administered by private insurers. For most seniors on fixed Social Security income, prescription medicine will be subsidized, and those seniors earning more pay an average premium of $35-$40/month. Rather than enforcing government price controls, our plan uses “group buying power” to reduce the costs of prescription drugs. Participating seniors can expect drug price discounts of an average of 25%. But, most importantly, doctors will be able to prescribe the right medicines at