PRESS RELEASE: HHS Urged to Ensure Medicare Beneficiaries Know All Prescription Drug Payment Options

HHS Urged to Ensure Medicare Beneficiaries Know All Prescription Drug Payment Options

Washington— Today, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) urged the Department of Health and Human Services to implement guidance to ensure Medicare beneficiaries have greater access to all their drug payment options to get the best price. Currently, some Medicare Part D drug plans prohibit a pharmacist from providing certain cost information, unless the senior knows to ask for it. Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) joined Mr. Doggett in the request; the two are co-chairs of the House Democratic Caucus Prescription Drug Task Force. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the Ranking Member of the Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), a leading House progressive, also joined. The representatives were supported by patient advocate group Consumers Union.

Rep. Doggett, Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources, said:

"We must take all steps possible to ensure seniors can easily access information that will help them purchase prescriptions at the best price. If we are serious about making medications more affordable, implementing this guidance is the least we can do."

Patient advocates at Consumers Union supported the congressional request:

"Given how many Americans struggle to pay for needed medications, the burden of finding the lowest possible price shouldn't rest on consumers' shoulders," says Betsy Imholz, Special Projects Director for Consumers Union, the advocacy and policy division of nonprofit Consumer Reports. "Pharmacists must not be prohibited from alerting patients if there is a better deal that falls outside their insurance coverage."

A recent AARP study examined how retail prices for widely used prescription drugs are increasing, far outpacing inflation.

A copy of the Members' letter can be found here.
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