Senators Call on Drug Company Leaders to Continue Drug Assistance Programs

Senators Call on Drug Company Leaders to Continue Drug Assistance Programs

Members of the Senate Finance Committee met today with top executives from eight pharmaceutical drug companies as part of an effort by senators to see that drug assistance programs continue alongside the new Medicare prescription drug benefit.
Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley chaired the meeting, which was also attended by Sen. Max Baucus, the Committee's Ranking Member, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, who is Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health. Sens. Mike Crapo, Jeff Bingaman, and Gordon Smith also attended the meeting. Sen. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV was unable to be at today's
meeting, though he has been a leader in trying to secure the patient assistance programs that provide prescription medicines to lower-income Medicare beneficiaries. Rockefeller is Ranking Member of the Finance Subcommittee on Health.

The drug companies were represented at today's meeting by the following individuals:

C Mr. David Brennan, CEO, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals PLC
C Mr. Peter R. Dolan, CEO, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
C Mr. Sidney Taurel, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Eli Lilly & Company
C Mr. David Stout, President of Pharmaceutical Operations, GlaxoSmithKline
C Mr. Seth H.Z. Fischer, Company Group Chairman, North America Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson
C Mr. Ian Spatz, Vice President, Merck & Co., Inc.
C Ms. Karen Katen, Vice Chairman, Pfizer, Inc.
C Dr. Fred Hassan, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board and CEO, Schering-Plough Corporation
C The Honorable Wilbert J. "Billy" Tauzin, Jr., President and CEO, PhRMA

May 11th Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Chairman, Committee on Finance

"The purpose of today's meeting was to say to the drug companies that the new Medicare drug benefit does not and should not prevent them from continuing to offer patient assistance programs to Medicare beneficiaries who enroll in Part D. It's not a legitimate excuse for dropping the assistance programs. Out-of-pocket costs for hyper-expensive drugs can be an
insurmountable barrier for many beneficiaries even with the new Medicare benefit. Drug companies should not penalize people who sign up for the Medicare drug benefit. I appreciate statements made in recent days by some pharmaceutical companies about continuing their programs or parts of their programs. There's more to do. I'm not going to let up. Beneficiaries
need these programs."

http://finance.senate.gov/press/Gpress/2005/prg051106.pdf