Washington,
D.C.–U.S.
Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Finance
Committee, delivered the
following remarks at a hearing on the President’s fiscal year 2024 budget for
the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
The
text of Ranking Member Crapo’s remarks, as prepared, is below.
“Thank you, Mr.
Chairman, and thank you, Secretary Becerra, for being here today.
“I do want to
respond to the question of the debt ceiling negotiations. I want to make
it very clear, the Republicans are asking for negotiations on the debt ceiling
process, to add some fiscal restraint into the debt ceiling extension. I
ask you, Secretary Becerra, to take back to the President my plea that he
engage with us in negotiations.
“I want to make
it clear, we are not talking about trying to reduce benefits in Medicare or
Social Security for our seniors. What we are talking about is reasonable
reforms that can help us get to some kind of fiscal restraint on our spiraling
debt. I encourage all of my colleagues in the Senate, but particularly
the President to engage with those kinds of negotiations.
“I want to
start my formal remarks on the positive. You have testified before and
talked to me privately about the fact that although we have our differences on
a lot of different policy areas, we want to find those areas where we can work
together, and we found some last year.
“Late last
year, we came together on a package of bipartisan reforms to produce
commonsense solutions, ranging from mental health improvements to comprehensive
telehealth coverage for seniors and working families. Moreover, we
accomplished all of this while reducing the deficit by billions of dollars.
“Fortunately,
the Administration supports these policies, and I look forward to partnering
with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as well as with my
colleagues on both sides of the aisle, to advance additional reforms that
improve health care access, affordability and choice for all Americans.
That being said, I do have concerns with the budget the President has put
forward.
“Unfortunately,
many of the proposals in the President’s budget run directly counter to these
types of initiatives. I have serious concerns with the focus on partisan policies
that risk harming health care access and affordability, for both current and
future patients.
“The budget’s
central proposal, for instance, would dramatically expand the size and scope of
the bureaucratic, government-run drug price-setting program enacted under last
year’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
“Prior to that
law’s passage, my Republican colleagues and I warned repeatedly that imposing
sweeping price controls would prove disastrous for patients, biomedical
research and development, and domestic manufacturing jobs. Many of our
fears have already come to pass.
“We pointed to
the risk of higher launch prices and distorted pricing practices, based on
projections validated by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. And
sure enough, the Wall Street Journal reported in January, and I quote,
‘The impact in 2023 may actually be higher drug prices.’
“We also
expressed concerns around life-saving R&D, as a University of Chicago study
estimated the IRA would result in 135 fewer new drug approvals in the next two
decades. That figure would inevitably skyrocket under the budget’s
proposed expansion. Already, numerous manufacturers have signaled plans
to table certain projects in light of the uncertainty created by the IRA.
“In recent
months, we have also seen a rash of drug shortages, which even leading U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials have attributed to pricing
dynamics. Doubling down on the IRA’s price controls would exacerbate the
law’s most harmful consequences.
“Americans
deserve better and more affordable access to prescription drugs, and we can
find bipartisan, results-oriented solutions this year to advance that
goal. Government price mandates, however, are a step in the wrong
direction.
“I also have
profound concerns with the budget’s bold claims of averting the Medicare
Hospital Insurance Trust Fund’s looming insolvency, largely through massive tax
hikes and budget gimmicks.
“This
unbalanced approach does nothing to address Medicare’s cost drivers. It
would also punish the small business job creators and entrepreneurs who drive
our economy.
“Unfortunately,
the budget takes a similarly shortsighted approach to Medicaid, reviving a
number of rejected policies from past proposals, including hundreds of billions
in new spending, tied to burdensome conditions and efforts to circumvent state
leaders.
“The federal
government should focus on supporting states as they work to return Medicaid to
post-pandemic normalcy, rather than imposing new top-down mandates.
“Instead of
turning to one-size-fits-all solutions, we should look to proven models for
federal programs, such as Medicare Advantage.
“With sky-high
patient satisfaction rates, Medicare Advantage shows that consumer choice and
market forces can produce more benefits and better outcomes.
“As we move
forward, I encourage your Department, Mr. Secretary, to focus on our many
shared goals, from cost-cutting competition to sustainable telehealth access,
rather than on partisan priorities.
“Thank you
again for being here today, and thank you, Mr. Chairman.”