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Subcommittee on Health Hearing re: “Prescription Drug Prices: Are Prices Rising too Fast?”
Posted by on December 8, 2009 | comments
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Thank you Mr. Chairman.

I think we need to start with a simple question. What is the purpose of this hearing?

If it is to answer the question posed in the title “ Are prescription drug prices rising too fast?” then I have two concerns.

The first is that we have not waited on a report that was requested by Chairman Waxman from the GAO on this very question.

We cannot debate what a proper increase in prices should look like until we know the facts – not as reported in the New York Times or by an advocacy group with a policy agenda, but as compiled by an independent entity.

The second concern I have is that this is not an issue that started in the O&I Subcommittee.

If the concern is that prices are being artificially manipulated and are causing harm to Americans and on programs under this Committee’s jurisdiction, then this would be a natural place to start an investigation.

If we are instead holding this hearing to cheer on provisions of that monstrosity of a bill that the House has passed under the guise of health reform, or to simply beat up on drug makers because it is the popular thing to do – then our hearing today makes sense.

As I stated – it is hard to debate an issue unless we know the context.

As for the individual provisions of HR 3962, we can debate them independently but they really do not go to the question of our hearing.

In so much as there is a belief that those provisions would reduce the cost of prescription drugs, then a witness from GAO, CBO or even the actuaries at CMS would make sense – yet none are testifying today. Why is that?

I understand that for some people any increase in drug spending is too high and drug companies are naturally evil because they make profits. While I understand those sentiments they are neither realistic nor rational.

The drug industry spends more on research and development than most other industries and whatever we do in this committee, we cannot hurt that research.

I believe government manipulation of the free market is wrong on principle.

In the case where we hamper innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, it is simply irresponsible.

Every drug that cures, treats, or prevents disease that isn’t developed and put in the hands of our doctors and patients because of actions Congress takes is irresponsible at best and immoral at worst.

With that said, it is very possible that drug companies are raising their prices and engaging in some type of unethical market manipulation. I doubt we will get that answer today – but I don’t know.

You know what else we don’t know? If this manipulation does exist, was it part of the secret negotiations held by Pharma as well as other groups with the White House earlier this year in May?

Chairman Waxman, as you know (and I thank you for working with me on this issue) I am VERY concerned that we have passed legislation through this committee and through the House without knowing what the White House negotiated, with whom, and on what terms.

Allowing these deals to guide the legislative process, particularly in the Senate, amounts to a dereliction of our responsibility as legislators.

Finally, there is one last reason we could be here and that is to provide a forum for trashing Medicare Part D. I want people to know - I will respond to any such attack.

Thanks to Medicare Part D – a voluntary program that works with the free market, not dictates to it, more than 90 percent of Americans age 65 and older have prescription drug coverage today, compared to 76 percent in 2004.

In 2006, just seven percent lacked coverage. Seniors with Part D spend less on hospitalizations and visits to the doctor's office, according to a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health study. Median out-of-pocket drug spending dropped for those newly covered by Part D.

I am not saying the program can’t be improved but it has worked and exceeded expectations.

That said, I look forward to the testimony and I yield back.

To view the video, click here.
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