Cornyn Votes To Preserve Choice & Competition For Seniors' Health Care

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Cornyn Votes To Preserve Choice & Competition For Seniors' Health Care

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, today joined his Republican colleagues in voting to preserve the current prescription drug benefit for America's seniors, which has led to expanded choices and lower drug costs through competition in the marketplace. The Senate this morning rejected an effort by Senate Democrats to limit patient choice and competition. The Democrats' failed proposal sought to make the federal government the arbiter of prescription drug choices and prices for seniors.

Senator John Cornyn Discusses Prescription Drugs and Medicare on the Senate Floor - 04/18/2007

Senator John Cornyn Discusses Prescription Drugs and Medicare on the Senate Floor - 04/18/2007
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Speaking on the Senate floor prior to this morning's vote, Sen. Cornyn said, "I am staggered by the suggestion that the federal government can somehow do a better job than the private sector, through choice and competition, in setting drug prices….The consequences, if this legislation is successful, will be that seniors will have fewer choices, the federal government will have grown that much bigger and the government would be interfering in the private choices that should be made by patients."

"The irony of this debate is that this is one of those government programs - one of the rare government programs - that actually works better than many originally thought it would….competition has forced costs down far below what was anticipated. In 2007, the average premium for the benefit is $22 a month - 40 percent less than projected. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office now estimates that for the next 10 years the costs for the prescription drug benefit will be more than 30 percent lower than originally forecast. I don't think I've ever seen or even read about a government program that actually came in under budget at a lower cost than originally projected. It really escapes me why some of our colleagues would want to change that," Sen. Cornyn concluded.

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