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Press Release

LULAC Wants U.S. Congress to Provide Much Needed Relief to Hispanic Seniors by Supporting the Medicare Prescription Negotiation Act of 2007

We applaud the bipartisan support of Members of Congress .

January 12, 2007

Contact: Lizette Jenness Olmos
(202) 833-6130 ext. 16
 

Washington, DC –The League of United Latin American Citizens, endorses H.R. 4, the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007. Representatives Dingell, Emerson, Rangel, Shea-Porter and Stark sponsored this critical piece of legislation.

“H.R. 4 is necessary to ensure that all Medicare beneficiaries are able to afford the out-of-pocket costs for basic medicines they need,” said LULAC National President Rosa Rosales, “At a time when Hispanics have become the largest minority group in the country with a population of 46 million, it is vital that Medicare use its bargaining power to bring down the prices of prescription drugs and bring relief to those who have to choose between purchasing groceries or buying medication.”

A December 2006 national poll released from the Kaiser Family/Harvard School of Public Health found that 65% of people strongly favor allowing the federal government to use its buying power to negotiate with drug companies to try to get a lower price for Medicare prescription drugs.

“One of the main shortcomings of the Medicare prescription drug bill passed in 2003 was the ability to negotiate drug prices. We hope this new Congress will address this shortcoming,” said LULAC Vice President for the Elderly Richard Fimbres, “Retail prescription prices increased an average of 8.3% a year from 1994 to 2005 more than triple the average annual rate of inflation. Yet, current law prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from using the full bargaining power of the Medicare program to negotiate prescription drug prices.”

The savings realized by Medicare will make it easier for Congress to close the doughnut hole in prescription coverage for Medicare beneficiaries. In fact, if Medicare negotiates similar prices to those negotiated by the Veteran’s Administration, the savings will be more than twice what is needed to eliminate the doughnut hole gap in coverage.

The League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest and largest Hispanic membership organization in the country, advances the economic conditions, educational attainment, political influence, health and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide.

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