Kanjorski Voted Against Medicare Part D For Seniors

If you listen to the "Affordable Medicine" commmercial aired by Paul Kanjorski he states that a Bush law prevented the government from negotiating the price(rebate) of prescription medications from drug manufacturers for Medicare Part D plans.



First Truth: Yes the law did that.

First Part Left Out: Prices are negotiated. The companies that are marketing the Medicare Part D plans like BlueRX, AARP, Community Care RX, Amerihealth, etc. negotiate rebates from the drug manufacturers on those medications. If the government negotiated the price(rebate) not all medications would be covered by the program. Manufacturers give rebates because a plan choses one medication over another. For example, Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix, Nexium, and Aciphex all work the same way. The makers of Prevacid would give a rebate if the plan chooses their medication over the rest. That would mean patients who get relief from Aciphex or Nexium would have to pay a higher or full price if they wanted the medication because of the rebate agreement on Prevacid.

Second False Statement: The ad goes on to state that "Kanjorski voted so seniors could buy affordable medicine."

Second Truth: Folks, Paul Kanjorski VOTED AGAINST Medicare Part D for seniors. You see, the same law that Kanjorski says prevented negotiation is the law that created Medicare Part D for seniors. It was called the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003(MMA). The MMA passed by a vote of 216 to 215. If one other Congressman voted like Paul Kanjorski seniors probably would not have a benefit today.

If you read this press release from his office he admits voting against Medicare Part D. " Congressman Kanjorski voted against the Medicare Prescription Drug bill in 2003."

His vote against Medicare Part D also meant that the PACE program in Pennsylvania would not be saving money because the PACE + Medicare Part D legislation would be a non-event.

Now I understand why the person did the Dueling Kanjo commercial. Paul Kanjorski, why would you mislead seniors about your vote against their prescription benefit?