“The bill the House voted on tonight is not a prescription drug plan, it is a placebo plan,” Larsen said.  “It won’t protect seniors and it hurts our local pharmacists.”

“This bill doesn’t recognize the true value that access to good medicine adds to the quality of life for seniors,” Larsen added.  “This bill does not do our seniors justice.”

“I support a prescription drug benefit under Medicare for seniors.  Seniors deserve a reliable plan that will help them cover the rising costs of prescription drugs.  The bill that passed tonight is not such a plan,” he added.  

“I oppose the Republican bill because it does not adequately address the needs of seniors.  It falls short in offering prescription drug coverage for seniors under Medicare and it does not recognize the economic hardships that many seniors face,” Larsen said.

The bill that passed tonight would create ‘drug-only’ policies under private insurance companies.  ‘Drug-only’ policies are not the way to successfully combat rising costs of prescription drugs.  Even the President of the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), Dr. Don Young, will admit to this.

Young put it simply, “People insure against auto accidents, not oil changes.  Insuring against routine maintenance procedures with fixed costs would be administratively inefficient and could actually cost more than simply paying for that maintenance out of pocket.”

An HIAA issue paper added to Young’s argument, “There is a serious risk that inadequate numbers of beneficiaries will enroll, or that only beneficiaries expecting high prescription drug costs will do so.” 

Larsen noted, “This bill also hurts the pharmacists in our communities.”

The bill that passed tonight will allow Prescription Benefit Managers to set up lists of preferred pharmacists and lists of approved drugs.  These lists will leave seniors with very few choices and could possibly force seniors to stop going to their local pharmacists

According to the National Community Pharmacists Association, the bill “penalizes beneficiaries desiring to continue their trusted relationship with their pharmacist and access to valuable pharmacist services.  Because the bill does not allow any pharmacy to participate in the program, seniors may have to give up using their local pharmacy… [It] will not succeed in the real world.”  

Larsen is chair of the Medicare Fairness Caucus and is a member of the Health and Medicare Task Force.