Candidate Position Comparisons on Prescription Drugs, U.S. President & Vice President,

Any responses to Prescription Drugs issue questions presented on the bottom of this page are those of Barack Obama, Ralph Nader, Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr and John Mccain seeking U.S. President & Vice President. The links immediately below will provide pages of candidate responses to other issues, with the first link to a report of all the issues and questions available to Barack Obama, Ralph Nader, Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr and John Mccain. Since many candidates choose not to respond to many questions, links are only provided where we have response information. Also, you may need to scroll down to compare responses if many candidates are seeking this office.

Prescription Drugs Issues	* Barack Obama - D	Ralph Nader - I	Chuck Baldwin - CON
Prescription Drugs, a General Statement	Obama: Pharmaceutical companies are selling the exact same drugs in Europe and Canada but charging Americans more than double the price. Obama will allow Americans to buy cheaper medicines from other developed countries if the drugs are safe. Obama will also repeal the ban that prevents the government from negotiating with drug companies for the Medicare prescription drug benefit, which could result in savings as high as $30 billion. Finally, Obama will work to increase the use of generic drugs in federal benefits programs and prohibit drug companies from keeping generics out of markets. Source: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/ Date: 09/30/2007	Nader: No Response	Baldwin: No Response
Medicare Prescription Drug Plans	Obama: Provide Easy-to-Understand Comparisons of the Medicare Prescription Drug Plans: Since the creation of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, seniors have been deluged with massive amounts of information about the various plans, but have received little guidance about which plans actually suit their unique needs. As a result, a significant number of seniors are enrolled in plans that are actually more expensive for them than other available Medicare prescription drug plans. A recent study of recipients in Wisconsin found that individuals could save on average $500 if they switched from their current Part D plan to other plans that provided coverage better suited for their needs. Barack Obama will ensure seniors are provided with information about the best prescription drug plans for them every year. An Obama administration will require companies to send Medicare Part D beneficiaries a complete list of the drugs the individual used the past year as well as the pertinent fees paid the previous year. Companies will also be required to provide seniors with online versions of this information, so that they can use it at a third-party comparison shopping site, similar to Priceline.com. Providing this information will help individuals determine which Medicare prescription drug plans can help them reduce their out-of-pocket costs and improve their health. Source: www.barackobama.com Date: 12/08/2007	Nader: No Response	Baldwin: No Response
Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program for Seniors	Obama: Barack Obama wants to close the "doughnut hole" in the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program that limits benefits for seniors with more than $2,250 but less than $5,100 in annual drug costs. Approximately 4 million seniors hit the doughnut hole in 2006, paying full price for drugs while also paying drug plan premiums. Since the creation of the medicare prescription drug benefit, seniors have been deluged with massive amounts of information about the various plans, but have received little guidance about which plans actually suit their unique needs. As a result, a significant number of seniors are enrolled in plans that are actually more expensive for them than other available medicare prescription drug plans. Obama will ensure seniors are provided with information about the best prescription drug plans for them every year. Source: www.barackobama.com Date: 12/08/2007	Nader: No Response	Baldwin: No Response
Safety of Prescription Drugs	Obama: No Response	Nader: No Response	Baldwin: No Response
Importing Prescription Drugs from Canada	Obama: Obama will fight to ensure that our nation’s seniors have access to affordable prescription drugs – by allowing re-importation of drugs from other industrialized nations for our citizens, like we do for drug manufacturers. The second-fastest growing type of health expenses is prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies are selling the exact same drugs in Europe and Canada but charging Americans more than double the price. Obama will allow Americans to buy cheaper medicines from other developed countries if the drugs are safe. Source: www.barackobama.com Date: 12/07/2007	Nader: Single-payer health-care coverage would make this unnecessary. Source: Candidate Website Date: 10/04/2008	Baldwin: No Response
Safety of Imported Drugs	Obama: No Response	Nader: No Response	Baldwin: No Response
Increasing Prescription Drug Competition	Obama: The insurance business today is dominated by a small group of large companies that has been gobbling up their rivals. There have been over 400 health care mergers in the last 10 years, and just two companies dominate a full third of the national market. These changes were supposed to make the industry more efficient, but instead premiums have skyrocketed, increasing over 87 percent. Obama will prevent companies from abusing their monopoly power through unjustified price increases. His plan will force insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient care instead of keeping exorbitant amounts for profits and administration. His new national health insurance exchange will help increase competition by insurers. Source: www.barackobama.com Date: 12/07/2007	Nader: No Response	Baldwin: No Response
Negotiating Pharmaceutical Prices	Obama: Provide Cheaper Prescription Drugs. Our seniors pay the highest prices in the world for brand-name drugs. Americans spent $200 billion on prescription drugs in 2005, nearly five times the $40.3 billion spent in 1990. A third of seniors pay $100 or more out of pocket every month on prescription drugs. To help lower the cost of pharmaceuticals, Barack Obama believes that the federal government should negotiate for lower drug prices for seniors in the Medicare program, just as it does to obtain lower prices for our veterans. Obama will also repeal the ban that prevents the government from negotiating with drug companies for the Medicare prescription drug benefit, which could result in savings as high as $30 billion. Source: www.barackobama.com Date: 12/08/2007	Nader: Under the Nader plan for health care, full prescription-drug coverage will be included in the health-care package for all Americans. Source: Candidate Website Date: 10/04/2008	Baldwin: No Response
Bringing Generic Drugs on the Market Sooner	Obama: Obama will work to increase the use of generic drugs in federal benefits programs and prohibit drug companies from keeping generics out of markets. Source: www.barackobama.com Date: 12/07/2007	Nader: No Response	Baldwin: No Response
Medicare Beneficiaries without Prescription-drug Coverage	Obama: No Response	Nader: Under the Nader plan, all benificiaries will have prescription-drug coverage. Source: Candidate Website Date: 10/04/2008	Baldwin: No Response
Prescription Drug Marketing	Obama: No Response	Nader: No Response	Baldwin: No Response
Regulating Drug Advertising, Like Cigarettes and Alcohol	Obama: No Response	Nader: No Response	Baldwin: No Response
Prescription Drugs Issues	Bob Barr - L	John Mccain - R
Prescription Drugs, a General Statement	Barr: No Response	Mccain: We’re asking senior citizens now to make a choice between their health and their income. They make too much money to be on Medicare and not enough to pay for their prescription drugs. We’ve got to devise a program that when a senior spends a certain part of their income on these prescription drugs that we’ll have a state and federal match for it. We can’t do that to our senior citizens. Source: Des Moines Iowa GOP Debate Date: 12/13/1999
Medicare Prescription Drug Plans	Barr: No Response	Mccain: Vote to pass an amendment that would make up to $300 billion available for a Medicare prescription drug benefit for 2002 through 2011. The money would come from the budget's contingency fund. The amendment would also require a Medicare overhaul. Source: Bill H Con Res 83 ; vote number 2001-65 Date: 04/03/2001
Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program for Seniors	Barr: No Response	Mccain: Voted NO on expanding enrollment period for Medicare Part D. Source: Bill S Amdt 2730 to HR 4297 ; vote number 2006-005 Date: 02/02/2006
Safety of Prescription Drugs	Barr: No Response	Mccain: No Response
Importing Prescription Drugs from Canada	Barr: No Response	Mccain: It's a strawman to say that a country like Canada could not be responsible for safe drugs to be brought into our country. Many of them are manufactured in Canada, as you know. I would reimport them from any country in the world as long as you have the proper process. In Canada, we already do. In Mexico, we do not. Source: "McCain Calls For Drug Reimportation," The Associated Press Date: 11/17/2007
Safety of Imported Drugs	Barr: No Response	Mccain: No Response
Increasing Prescription Drug Competition	Barr: No Response	Mccain: No Response
Negotiating Pharmaceutical Prices	Barr: No Response	Mccain: No Response
Bringing Generic Drugs on the Market Sooner	Barr: No Response	Mccain: Foster the development of routes for safe, cheaper generic versions of drugs and biologic pharmaceuticals. Develop safety protocols that permit re-importation to keep competition vigorous. Source: www.johnmccain.com Date: 12/05/2007
Medicare Beneficiaries without Prescription-drug Coverage	Barr: No Response	Mccain: No Response
Prescription Drug Marketing	Barr: No Response	Mccain: No Response
Regulating Drug Advertising, Like Cigarettes and Alcohol	Barr: No Response	Mccain: No Response

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