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<nobr>Jan 13, 2007</nobr>
Major Employers See Medicare Bill as Missed Opportunity
THE ERISA INDUSTRY COMMITTEE
1400 L Street NW Suite 350 Washington, DC 20005-3509
Tel 202.789.1400 Fax 202.789.1120 http://www.eric.org
Advocating the Employee Benefit and Compensation Interests of America's Major Employers
Major Employers See Medicare Bill as Missed Opportunity
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C.— The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), a Washington, D.C. trade association comprised of the nation’s largest employers, said the passage today of the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act (H.R. 4) in the House of Representatives was a missed opportunity.
While research conducted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) found that the bill would have no effect on lowering drug prices, ERIC is more concerned that the bill was an opportunity to review a host of reform measures that would have made Medicare more efficient, more effective, and more responsive. Bypassing of committee hearings and oversight and the abandonment of regular order precluded that review.
“It is unclear that H.R. 4 would in fact result in significant savings to Medicare, and it may result in increased costs to the private sector,” said ERIC President Mark Ugoretz. “We should be talking about proven solutions like the serious savings we can achieve by managing chronic conditions, making the healthcare market more transparent, and bringing the US healthcare system into the 21st century with information technology – all of which could improve the quality of Medicare while also alleviating some of the program’s financial woes.”
In a January 11, 2007 letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other House members, ERIC and other employer groups made clear that a compelling case for direct negotiation by Medicare on prescription drugs has not been made. “The private market has delivered impressive cost savings for beneficiaries and Medicare itself through a broad range of competing drug plans,” the letter stated. “We encourage you to oppose any efforts that may lead to price controls to prescription drugs.” The letter also listed a number of Medicare reform issues that employer groups are eager to work with the government to implement, and can be viewed on ERIC’s web site, http://www.eric.org.
For further information please contact James Gelfand, ERIC’s Manager of Health Policy Research, at (202) 789-1400 or jgelfand@eric.org.
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ERIC is a non-profit association committed to representing the advancement of the employee retirement, health, and compensation plans of America’s largest employers. ERIC’s members provide benchmark retirement, health care coverage, compensation and other economic security benefits directly to tens of millions of active and retired workers and their families. ERIC has a strong interest in proposals affecting its members’ ability to deliver those benefits, their cost and their effectiveness, as well as the role of those benefits in the American economy.
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