PRINTER'S NO. 3640
No. 622 Session of 2006
INTRODUCED BY DeLUCA, BELFANTI, CALTAGIRONE, CORNELL, CRUZ,
DALEY, FREEMAN, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, HARHAI, JAMES, JOSEPHS,
MANDERINO, MANN, MARKOSEK, McGEEHAN, MUNDY, PARKER, PETRARCA,
PETRONE, PISTELLA, READSHAW, ROBERTS, RUBLEY, SIPTROTH,
T. STEVENSON, SURRA, THOMAS, TIGUE, WALKO, WHEATLEY,
WOJNAROSKI AND YUDICHAK, MARCH 7, 2006
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INSURANCE, MARCH 7, 2006
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Congress of the United States to address Medicare
2 Part D issues related to direct coverage and bulk purchase.
3 WHEREAS, The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and
4 Modernization Act of 2003 created a voluntary outpatient
5 prescription drug benefit known as Medicare Part D; and
6 WHEREAS, Public confusion about the program, flawed program
7 design and incompetent implementation have left many seniors
8 unable to make an informed decision about the plan that best
9 meets their needs; and
10 WHEREAS, The program has created a complex transition process
11 that shifts approximately six million beneficiaries from one
12 type of drug coverage to another; and
13 WHEREAS, Drug coverage would be provided in the Commonwealth
14 of Pennsylvania by more than 50 competing private health plans
15 offered by 12 competing insurance companies; and
16 WHEREAS, Dual-eligible beneficiaries, individuals eligible
1 for both Medicare and Medicaid, are poorer and have more
2 extensive needs than other Medicare beneficiaries and are more
3 likely to be disabled, at least 85 years old or to have
4 cognitive impairments; and
5 WHEREAS, Some dual-eligible beneficiaries were not
6 automatically enrolled in a drug program or their customary
7 pharmacy is not in their prescription drug network; and
8 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, along with more
9 than two dozen other states, has had to take emergency action to
10 ensure that dual-eligible beneficiaries in the Medicare Part D
11 program receive promised benefits; therefore be it
12 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
13 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Congress to address
14 Medicare Part D issues related to direct coverage and bulk
15 purchase by passing legislation that:
16 (1) permits direct coverage of eligible individuals
17 under the Medicare Part D program, similar to Medicare Part A
18 and Medicare Part B; and
19 (2) authorizes the bulk purchase of prescription drugs
20 under the Medicare Part D program as a cost-control
21 mechanism;
22 and be it further
23 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
24 the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
25 member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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