The Democrats’ Medicare Bill Is a Bad Prescription

At best, the prescription drug legislation the House passed Friday would have little or no impact on costs – as the CBO has indicated. At worst, it would reduce seniors’ access to the wide range of prescription drugs that would otherwise be covered and increase costs for veterans.

Seniors should be able to choose their doctors, pick their pharmacies, and have access to the drugs their doctors prescribe. This legislation would compromise that.

Competition is working under the current system to lower prices, while seniors’ satisfaction with the benefit is increasing. We need to make more progress in this direction – not take a big step backward by forcing seniors into a one-size-fits-all drug plan and taking medical decisions away from physicians and putting them into the hands of bureaucrats.

The prescription drug bill that was pushed through the House last week is bumper-sticker politics at its worst – pursuing policy that sounds good in a sound bite, but ignores the problems that come with government interference in the Medicare drug program. I hope Congress will consider legislation in the future that corrects this mistake.