Price differentials are far higher for drugs than for other consumer items. Pharmaceutical manufacturers, not drug stores, appear to be responsible for the discriminatory prices older Americans pay for prescription drugs. A comparison of wholesale and retail drug prices revealed that a majority of the markup is due to manufacturer price discrimination, not retail drug store markups. To protect seniors from this price discrimination, I have sponsored the Prescription Drug Fairness for Seniors Act, H.R. 664. This legislation uses the free market to give Medicare beneficiaries the same advantages that HMOs, insurance companies, and the federal government already receive.
Companies can set their best price at whatever level they want.
The legislation simply leverages the market power of the federal government to allow seniors access to prescription drugs at the same low prices the government pays for the drugs it buys. Older Americans shouldn't have to choose between buying food or medicine. Our goal should be to expand Medicare to cover prescription drugs. Until we can pass that legislation, we should take an intermediate step and pass the Prescription Drug Fairness for Seniors Act. Congress can take this step without significant cost to the federal government and with tremendous benefit to millions of older Americans.