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Candidates' Positions and Views |
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for:
United States Senator, Pennsylvania |
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April 24, 2012 Pennsylvania Democratic Primary |
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Candidates positions and views on other Issues where information is available: |
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The report below lists the candidate responses to Prescription Drugs issue questions. The responses were provided by Joseph John Vodvarka and Bob Casey, Jr. or were obtained from their websites. The candidates select the issues and questions for which they want to provide a response. The first link is a report of all the issues and questions made available to the candidates. Many issues and questions had no responses - links are only provided where we have information. If there are many candidates for this office, you may have to scroll down to compare all responses. |
| Prescription Drugs |
Joseph John Vodvarka - D
Website
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Bob Casey, Jr. - D
Website
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| Prescription Drugs, a General Statement |
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Bob Casey believes that the Medicare Part D program is fundamentally flawed and is in clear need of a complete overhaul.
The Part D legislation currently prohibits Medicare officials from negotiating lower bulk prices with the drug companies. It also continues to block the re-importation of safe, FDA-approved prescription drugs at lower prices from Canada. At the same time, the legislation lavishes extravagant taxpayer-financed incentives on the HMO industry in order to increase HMO participation in Part D and Medicare generally.
As a result, the Part D legislation could establish only a very limited and complicated structure of benefits. It is riddled with "donut holes" in coverage which require many seniors to pay for all drug costs out of their own pockets. The administration also demanded that the legislation give a privileged position to the complicated administrative and enrollment procedures of participating insurance companies and HMOs. Seniors across the country are now struggling to deal with unnecessary bureaucratic labyrinths and even being wrongly denied benefits.
As Pennsylvania's Senator, Bob Casey will demand that Congress do the right thing and engage in comprehensive revision of its Part D legislation. He will lead the effort to demand lower prices from the drug companies and cut out the sweetheart incentives for the HMO and insurance industries. Congress can then use the revenue saved to broaden benefit coverage for our seniors. Bob Casey will make sure that Congress puts the well-being of our older Americans ahead of corporate profits.
Source: Candidate Website (10/07/2006) |
| Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program for Seniors |
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Bob Casey believes that the Medicare Part D program is fundamentally flawed and is in clear need of a complete overhaul.
The Part D legislation currently prohibits Medicare officials from negotiating lower bulk prices with the drug companies. It also continues to block the re-importation of safe, FDA-approved prescription drugs at lower prices from Canada. At the same time, the legislation lavishes extravagant taxpayer-financed incentives on the HMO industry in order to increase HMO participation in Part D and Medicare generally.
As a result, the Part D legislation could establish only a very limited and complicated structure of benefits. It is riddled with "donut holes" in coverage which require many seniors to pay for all drug costs out of their own pockets. The administration also demanded that the legislation give a privileged position to the complicated administrative and enrollment procedures of participating insurance companies and HMOs. Seniors across the country are now struggling to deal with unnecessary bureaucratic labyrinths and even being wrongly denied benefits.
As Pennsylvania's Senator, Bob Casey will demand that Congress do the right thing and engage in comprehensive revision of its Part D legislation. He will lead the effort to demand lower prices from the drug companies and cut out the sweetheart incentives for the HMO and insurance industries. Congress can then use the revenue saved to broaden benefit coverage for our seniors. Bob Casey will make sure that Congress puts the well-being of our older Americans ahead of corporate profits.
Source: Candidate Website (10/07/2006) |
| These are available issue topics for which there were no responses. |
| Medicare Prescription Drug Plans |
| Safety of Prescription Drugs |
| Importing Prescription Drugs from Canada |
| Safety of Imported Drugs |
| Increasing Prescription Drug Competition |
| Negotiating Pharmaceutical Prices |
| Bringing Generic Drugs on the Market Sooner |
| Medicare Beneficiaries without Prescription-drug Coverage |
| Prescription Drug Marketing |
| Regulating Drug Advertising, Like Cigarettes and Alcohol |