Ryan Named to Serve on House Speaker’s Prescription Drug Action Team

WASHINGTON – The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives today named Wisconsin’s First District Congressman Paul Ryan to serve on his Prescription Drug Action Team. Members of this team will work with House Leadership and the committees that handle Medicare issues, including the Ways and Means Committee on which Ryan serves, to move forward with a plan to strengthen Medicare and help seniors purchase prescription drugs. The House already has passed a budget blueprint to provide $350 billion over the next ten years to do this.

"I often talk with seniors who tell me how they are struggling to pay the high cost of their prescription drugs," Ryan said. "On top of this, Southern Wisconsin’s seniors have also experienced a serious loss of choice in recent years, as Medicare + Choice providers stopped offering coverage. As the House takes up legislation to strengthen and improve Medicare, I look forward to working in the Ways and Means Committee and on the Speaker’s Task Force to make needed improvements and create a prescription drug benefit for our seniors."

The Speaker also unveiled a set of principles that will guide the legislators’ work to strengthen Medicare with prescription drug coverage. These principles are:

Principle 1: Lower the Costs of Prescription Drugs Now
A fair and responsible Medicare plan must lower the costs of prescription drugs now so senior citizens can better afford the medicines they need to live healthier and improve their quality of life.

Principle 2: Guarantee All Senior Citizens Prescription Drug Coverage
A fair and responsible Medicare plan must guarantee a prescription drug benefit under Medicare for all seniors and provide additional assistance for low-income seniors and those facing runaway drug costs because of a long-term, severe illness.

Principle 3: Improve Medicare with More Choices and More Savings
A fair and responsible Medicare plan must give senior citizens more power to choose what’s best for them. It would promote preventive medicine, include an affordable and voluntary prescription drug benefit, strengthen the Medicare + Choice program, and lower overall health care costs.

Principle 4: Strengthen Medicare for the Future
A fair and responsible plan must strengthen Medicare by ensuring the program can deliver necessary health care services, including the addition of an affordable and voluntary prescription drug benefit under Medicare.