Address drug costs

For well over a decade the issue of prescription drug costs in the USA has been a major issue for retirees and the public at large. We pay much more than people in any other industrialized countries for the same drugs that are often made by the same companies.

There are three major areas that need bills to be passed to rectify the problems: 1. Having Medicare and Medicaid put their drugs out for bid, as does the VA; 2. Making illegal the actions of pharmaceutical companies to delay introduction of generic drugs; and 3. Making legal the importation of 90-day supplies of prescribed drugs from safe source countries such as Canada.

In each two-year congressional session over the last decade, we’ve seen over 100 bills addressing these and other closely related matters, some comprehensive, some on the fringes.

Only a few minor ones have passed. Many are in the last few months of each session, convenient window dressing before an election with little chance for passage. It is long past time for Congress to pass a comprehensive drug bill, or individual ones addressing these issues.

Now we see TV ads from the pharmaceutical association flooding us with scare tactics stating you won’t be able to get your Medicare drugs, so please call your representatives in Congress and tell them to protect you. Retiree organizations such as the AARP and the National Retiree Legislative Network are telling their members not to be fooled by the commercials.

Again, it is well past time for action on these matters, all in one bill or in individual bills. The public is tired of paying double or more than people in other industrialized countries pay.

BOB WINTER

Sherwood