Sample Letter to Your U.S. Senator
NOTE: Here is a sample letter you can email to your state Senator. Just cut and paste this text and email this to your Senator. To locate the email address for your Senator, visit http://www.senate.gov/ and select your state in the drop down box at the top right of the site’s home page and email this letter.
Dear Senator:
I understand that the Medicare prescription drug coverage benefit and the non-interference clause will be debated in the Senate in the coming weeks. I also appreciate the balance you must strike between managing costs and meeting the needs of America's seniors.
Please allow the Medicare Part D system we currently have to keep working, and block any attempts to have government negotiate or set the price of medicines. The new Medicare prescription drug plan ensures America's seniors and disabled have affordable access to the medicines they need. And it has done so at lower costs than originally expected, thanks to the free-market system that both Democrats and Republicans put in place.
Even though there were some challenges early on, the program is working for 39 million people, including 7 million who had no prescription drug coverage just over a year ago. Surveys show the overwhelming majority of seniors and disabled are saving money and are pleased with their drug coverage.
While I understand your interest in helping to control the rising costs of health care, any measures allowing government price negotiations would not only harm patient choice, but also pose a serious risk to seniors' and disabled health. The proposed changes could impose price controls on prescription medicines, which will stifle the kind of scientific innovation that has made the United States the world leader in the discovery of life saving medicines.
We also know that market competition works to manage costs. So far, the Congressional Budget Office and Medicare's actuaries have revised downward their estimates for the total cost of the program by almost $200 billion over ten years.
Please allow the Medicare Part D system we currently have to keep working, and block any attempts to have government negotiate or set the price of medicines.
Thank you for your consideration of this important issue.
Sign Your Name