National Right to Life Committee Position on Health Care Rationing as It Relates to Drug Price Controls in Medicare

NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE POSITION ON HEALTH CARE RATIONING AS IT RELATES TO DRUG PRICE CONTROLS IN MEDICARE

U.S. SENATE REJECTS RATIONING OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS IN MEDICARE – 55 TO 42 VOTE FALLS SHORT OF 60 NEEDED FOR CLOTURE TO IMPOSE GOVERNMENT PRICE-FIXING

April 18, 2007 – The United States Senate effectively rejected S. 3, an effort to authorize government price-fixing for prescription drugs under Medicare which the National Right to Life Committee opposed because of its denial of the right of older Americans to spend their own money, if they choose, to obtain life-saving medicine in Medicare and avoid health care rationing through private fee-for-service plans. To defeat a filibuster led by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), proponents of price-fixing needed 60 votes for “cloture,” but were only able to manage 55. The roll call vote is available here.

Drug Price Controls and Rationing in a Nutshell

Because the pro-life movement opposes euthanasia, it opposes rationing – government-imposed denial of lifesaving health care.
Government-imposed price controls on drugs deny Americans the opportunity for the development of new life-saving drugs, like cures for Alzheimer’s disease.
Under the new Medicare prescription drug benefit which began in 2006, the government cannot interfere in drug price negotiations between drug providers and drug insurers.
Under the guise of authorizing the government to take over negotiations for drug prices in Medicare, some in Congress are pushing for a Medicare law amendment that would mean government-imposed drug controls.
Just as we helped defeat the Clinton Health Care Rationing Plan, pro-lifers must mobilize to defeat the proposal that would ration new lifesaving drugs by imposing drug price controls under the guise of government “negotiations.”

Government Prescription Drug Price-Fixing in Medicare Would Deny Access to Life-Saving Drugs - Preventing Senior Citizens from Using Their Own Money To Save Their Own Lives

– The Veteran’s Administration Health Care System, Held Up as Model for Medicare Government Drug Price-Fixing, Denies Access to Life-Saving Drugs

81% of new drugs, those approved by the FDA since 2000, are not available to veterans using the VA health system[1]
A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that, on average, “persons consuming new drugs were significantly less likely to die by [the end of the study period] than were persons consuming older drugs” for the same medical condition.[2]
27% of veterans eligible for both VA health benefits and Medicare have chosen to enroll in the Medicare drug benefit, under which all but a very few newly approved drugs are available.[3]

– Those who are unable (or choose not) to pay higher premiums for access to newer drugs have the choice in all states but Alaska of paying $0 extra premium for a Medicare prescription drug plan.3 Putting a government-fixed ceiling price on what private prescription drug plans in Medicare are allowed to pay would simply deny access to such drugs for middle income senior citizens who want to pay the additional premium.

[1]. Frank Lichtenberg. “Older Drugs, Shorter Lives? An Examination of the Health Effects of the Veterans Health Administration Formulary,” Medical Progress Report No. 2, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, October 2005, available at www.manhattan-institute.org/html/mpr_02.htm.

[2].Frank Lichtenberg, “Are the Benefits of Newer Drugs Worth Their Cost? Evidence from the 1996 MEPS”, Health Affairs (September/October 2001), p. 241, 246-47.

[3].Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. Dep’t of Health and Human Services, “Part D Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Fact Sheet” (January 2007).

More Detailed Explanation: Questions and Answers

Letter to U.S. Senators -- April 17, 2007

NRLC statement on U.S. House vote on Prescription Drugs in Medicare -- January 12, 2007

Letter to Members of U.S. House of Representatives -- January 10, 2007
To view or download this letter in pdf format, click here.

Letter to Members of U.S. House of Representatives -- January 2, 2007