To amend part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act to strike the language that prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from negotiating prices for prescription drugs furnished under the Medicare program.

December 9, 2003

Mr. DASCHLE (for Mr. FEINGOLD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

To amend part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act to strike the language that prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from negotiating prices for prescription drugs furnished under the Medicare program.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Efficiency in Government Health Care Spending Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) Prohibiting the Federal Government from negotiating prescription drug prices with manufacturers fails to take advantage of the purchasing power of the Medicare program.

(2) Negotiating prescription drug prices can reduce the costs of prescription drugs for both the Medicare program and taxpayers.

(3) A 2002 study by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services found that--

(A) both the Medicare program and the beneficiaries of the Medicare program continually pay too much for medical equipment and medical supplies; and

(B) if the Medicare program paid the same prices for 16 health care supplies as the Department of Veterans Affairs, which directly negotiates prices with manufacturers, pays for those supplies, the Federal Government could save $958,000,000 each year.

SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF PROHIBITION OF NEGOTIATION OF PRICES.

(a) REPEAL OF NONINTERFERENCE PROVISION-

(1) IN GENERAL- Subsection (i) of section 1860D-11 of the Social Security Act, as added by section 101 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, is repealed.

(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- Subsection (j) of section 1860D-11 of the Social Security Act, as added by section 101 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, is redesignated as subsection (i).

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE- The amendments made by this section shall take effect as if included in the enactment of section 101 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.

END