Sen. Wellstone Proposes Bill to Have Federal Government Cover At Least 80% of Seniors’ Rx Drug Costs

Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) on May 23 introduced a bill that would offer prescription drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries with the federal government covering "at least 80%: of drug costs, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. Under the plan, the federal government would subsidize the total cost of prescription drugs for seniors earning up to 135% of the federal poverty level, or an individual annual income of about $11,600. Those seniors earning up to 150% FPL, or nearly $13,000 annually, would received reduced subsidies, while seniors earning more than 150% FPL would pay $24 monthly premiums and 20% of their prescription drug costs. Wellstone's proposal would cap out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 annually, limiting the maximum annual outlay, including premiums, to $2,288 per senior. The "keys" to the proposal, according to Wellstone, are three "cost-containment mechanisms," which he said would hold the plan's pricetag to around $350 billion over 10-years. Under Wellstone's plan, drug companies would be required to give Medicare volume-pricing discounts equal to the lowest prices offered to other government agencies, such as Medicaid; pharmacies would be permitted to reimport FDA-approved drugs from "countries with drug price controls"; and all drugs developed in coordination with the National Institutes of Health would require "reasonable pricing." Wellstone said, "It's time to make prescription drugs affordable for America's senior citizens, millions of whom lived on fixed incomes while the cost of often life-saving drugs skyrockets year after year" (Gordon, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 5/24).