|
Candidates' Positions and Views |
|
for:
U.S. Senate, Arkansas |
|
November 2004 General Election |
|
|
|
Candidates positions and views on other Issues where information is available: |
|
The report below lists the candidate responses to Prescription Drugs issue questions. The responses were provided by Jim Holt, Blanche Lambert Lincoln, Gene Mason, Mark Pryor and Glen Schwarz 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 |
Jim Holt - R
Website
|
Blanche Lambert Lincoln - D
Website
|
Gene Mason - G
|
| Importing Prescription Drugs from Canada |
|
I have consistently supported the safe re-importation of prescription medications by consumers. It is not right that many Arkansans are forced to make difficult choices between prescription drugs and other necessities while consumers in other nations are paying substantially lower prices for the same prescriptions.
I am the co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation, the Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act, that would enable consumers, wholesalers and pharmacists to import prescription drugs from Canadian exporters approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during the first year after enactment. In addition, beginning in the following year, pharmacists and wholesalers would be allowed to import prescription drugs from a larger group of nations, including the European Union, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. To ensure safety, all importers and exporters would be required to maintain a chain of custody for the drugs, and regular inspections would be performed by the FDA.
Source: Candidate Website (10/02/2004) |
|
| Negotiating Pharmaceutical Prices |
|
Yes.
Source: Candidate Website (10/02/2004) |
|
| Medicare Beneficiaries without Prescription-drug Coverage |
|
I voted for the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) because it offers a drug benefit to all Medicare beneficiaries in Arkansas for the first time in the program's 40 year history. Given the growing budget deficit, I am convinced that seniors who need relief today would have to wait several more years for this benefit if Congress failed to take this initial step now.
Starting in 2006, this bill provides a universal, voluntary drug benefit for ALL seniors. This means that a Medicare drug benefit will be available to all, but forced upon none. Seniors can opt to keep any current coverage they have and will not be forced into the Medicare benefit. Further, this bill gives extra help to those seniors who have limited incomes. Once a beneficiary reaches a catastrophic level, prescriptions will be almost completely covered by Medicare.
You will be pleased to know that after meeting with interested constituents all across our state to listen to their concerns about the MMA, I introduced legislation to improve the rules of coverage under the law. My Medicare Modernization Improvement Act builds on the recent reforms and makes the Medicare drug benefit more stable and less costly for Medicare beneficiaries. It would permit the immediate re-importation of medications from Canada and allow the federal government to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. In addition, it would provide access to supplemental drug insurance plans in order to fill in the "gaps" in the current law.
Since I came to Congress nearly a decade ago, I have fought hard for prescription drug coverage for our seniors. During that time, I have worked to expand Medicare coverage to include other important benefits such as preventative screenings for breast and cervical cancer, medical nutrition therapy, and improved reimbursements for health care providers. I am glad that this new legislation contains several provisions I fought for [Response was truncated to maximum response length of 2000 characters.]
Source: Candidate Website (10/02/2004) |
|
| These are available issue topics for which there were no responses. |
| Prescription Drugs, a General Statement |
| Medicare Prescription Drug Plans |
| Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program for Seniors |
| Safety of Prescription Drugs |
| Safety of Imported Drugs |
| Increasing Prescription Drug Competition |
| Bringing Generic Drugs on the Market Sooner |
| Prescription Drug Marketing |
| Regulating Drug Advertising, Like Cigarettes and Alcohol |
| Prescription Drugs |
Mark Pryor - D
Website
|
Glen Schwarz - L
|
| Prescription Drugs, a General Statement |
Americans will continue to pay more for their drugs then any other people in the entire world unless Congress and the Administration allow the safe importation of prescription drugs from Canada and other industrialized countries. Arkansans pay 33-88 percent more for their drugs than our neighbors in Canada. I am fighting to change this injustice on behalf of our seniors, children, and parents who can no longer feed the profit margins of our nation's drug companies.
Source: pryor.senate.gov/issues/health.cfm (04/21/2008) |
|
| Importing Prescription Drugs from Canada |
Americans will continue to pay more for their drugs then any other people in the entire world unless Congress and the Administration allow the safe importation of prescription drugs from Canada and other industrialized countries. Arkansans pay 33-88 percent more for their drugs than our neighbors in Canada. I am fighting to change this injustice on behalf of our seniors, children, and parents who can no longer feed the profit margins of our nation's drug companies.
Source: Candidate Website (10/04/2008) |
|
| These are available issue topics for which there were no responses. |
| Medicare Prescription Drug Plans |
| Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program for Seniors |
| Safety of Prescription Drugs |
| 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 |