WASHINGTON -- U.S. Reps. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Marion Berry (D-AR), and 40 other House Democrats sent a letter to House and Senate conferees for the FY 2007 National Defense Authorization Bill today urging adoption of a Senate provision requiring pharmaceutical companies to give TRICARE beneficiaries discounts on retail prescription drugs. This provision would not only generate tremendous savings, but would ensure that the Department of Defense (DoD) does not have to raise co-payments for active duty and retired military personnel.

“Military personnel and their families rely on TRICARE for their health coverage.  The conferees should accept the Senate-passed provision, which will guarantee   access to affordable prescription drugs whether at the pharmacy or through mail-order, as Congress intended,” said Rep. Cardin, a member of the Ways and Means Committee who successfully expanded access to TRICARE coverage for military retirees and their spouses.

With prescription drug costs on the rise, DoD is seeking ways to control spending in the TRICARE program. The agency has tried numerous times to enforce a provision in the 1992 Veterans Health Care Act which requires pharmaceutical companies to give DoD discounts on prescription drugs. Despite these repeated efforts, pharmaceutical companies refuse to grant discounts for the TRICARE retail program like they do for drugs dispensed through the mail order program.

“While I recognize the need to contain prescription drug costs, I will not sit quiet while our leadership lets drug companies off the hook and shifts the burden to our active duty and retired military personnel,” said Rep. Berry. “We know how to provide low-cost prescription drugs for military beneficiaries. We just need to hold the drug companies accountable for a discount they should already provide.”

The Senate version of the National Defense Authorization bill would clarify the 1992 provision, forcing pharmaceutical companies to extend discounts to the TRICARE retail program. This would lower costs and eliminate the need for a provision in the House bill to increase retail co-payments for TRICARE beneficiaries. The provision would increase the price of generic drugs from $3 to $6 a month and the price of brand name drugs from $9 to $16 a month. 

Conference negotiations for the FY 2007 Defense Authorization Bill are already underway, and both chambers are expected to take up the final bill once they return from the August District Work Period. The Military Officers Association of America is also working to secure this discount on retail drugs for TRICARE beneficiaries.

--##--