PRINTER'S NO. 4130
No. 620 Session of 2000
INTRODUCED BY GEORGE, DeWEESE, PETRARCA, STABACK, LEDERER,
HARHAI, CAPPABIANCA, BELARDI, EACHUS, WASHINGTON, ORIE,
PISTELLA, STURLA, READSHAW, BLAUM, SANTONI, COY, TIGUE,
WOJNAROSKI, SURRA, TRAVAGLIO, CASORIO, PESCI, COSTA, BARRAR,
BEBKO-JONES, HORSEY, VAN HORNE, HENNESSEY, HANNA, JOSEPHS,
DALEY, SOLOBAY, LAUGHLIN, BELFANTI, M. COHEN, SAINATO,
DeLUCA, SHANER, WALKO, BATTISTO, MELIO, FREEMAN, CURRY,
GRUCELA, LUCYK, MANDERINO, WANSACZ, KIRKLAND, THOMAS,
SCRIMENTI, WATERS AND LEVDANSKY, OCTOBER 17, 2000
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, OCTOBER 17, 2000
A RESOLUTION
1 Directing the House of Representatives to establish the
2 Organization of Middle States on Prescription Drugs; and
3 inviting legislators from New York, Maryland, New Jersey and
4 Delaware to join the organization formed to seek ways in
5 which to reduce prescription drug prices for seniors, persons
6 with disabilities and the uninsured.
7 WHEREAS, According to the Health Care Financing
8 Administration, in 1998 national prescription drug expenditures
9 increased 14.9% compared to only 5.1% in overall national health
10 care expenditures; and
11 WHEREAS, Based on an April 2000 report of the Department of
12 Health and Human Services (HHS), nearly one in four people in
13 the non-Medicare population lacked prescription drug coverage in
14 1996; and
15 WHEREAS, The HHS study also found that about one-third of
16 seniors 65 years of age or older do not have prescription drug
1 coverage and that those seniors with incomes between 100% and
2 150% of the Federal poverty level (incomes between $7,527 and
3 $11,287) had the lowest rate of drug coverage in 1996; and
4 WHEREAS, According to the HHS report, seniors and people with
5 disabilities who do not have prescription drug coverage
6 typically pay 15% more than insurers who negotiate price
7 discounts for the same prescription drug; and
8 WHEREAS, The percentage of Medicare beneficiaries without
9 drug coverage who report not being able to afford a needed drug
10 is about five times higher than for those Medicare beneficiaries
11 with coverage; and
12 WHEREAS, Seniors over 65 years of age spent an average of
13 $559 on prescription drugs in 1992 but will spend $1,205 this
14 year and a projected $2,810 by 2010; and
15 WHEREAS, Six New England states have formed an organization
16 called the Northeast Legislative Association on Prescription
17 Drug Prices to collectively seek ways in which to reduce drug
18 prices; and
19 WHEREAS, It is time that the middle states consisting of
20 Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware, which
21 face similar but not the same prescription drug concerns as
22 their New England counterparts, should form their own
23 organization to serve, among others, the following purposes:
24 (1) Providing a forum for discussing individual and
25 collective strategies to bring about lower prescription drug
26 prices for seniors, persons with disabilities and the
27 uninsured.
28 (2) Encouraging joint efforts to lobby key congressional
29 members to ensure a Medicare prescription drug program for
30 those beneficiaries without drug coverage who cannot afford
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1 to pay for the drugs they need;
2 therefore be it
3 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives establish the
4 Organization of Middle States on Prescription Drugs and invite
5 legislators from New York, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware to
6 join the organization formed to seek ways in which to make
7 prescription drugs more affordable.
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