Tim Kaine Quotes

There are no issues more personal than prescription drugs and the high prices Americans must pay to get the medicine they need.

There is no disputing the fact that American consumers pay 30 to 300 percent more for the same prescription drugs as our counterparts in Canada, Europe, and the rest of the world.

The rising cost of prescription drugs has sparked a prairie fire that is spreading across our nation.

First of all, pharmaceutical costs are the single fastest-growing part of our health care budget.

It has been a top priority of Congress to reduce the drug costs of all seniors.

By a wide margin, the biggest threat to our nation’s balance sheet is the skyrocketing cost of health care. It’s not even close.

We cannot afford to balance the budget on the backs of America's middle class and seniors and must do what it takes to strengthen Social Security and Medicare, including enabling the government to negotiate the price of prescription drugs.

To drive down high drug costs, we need to shine a light on the negotiations between drug manufacturers, middleman negotiators and pharmacies.

If we greatly expanded primary health care, lower the cost of prescription drugs, we take a giant step forward in lowering health care costs in America.

We, of course, need to improve our failing healthcare system, where costs are skyrocketing and 1 in 3 Americans doesn't have the healthcare that they need. Can't afford it, even with their insurance.

Prescription drug prices are skyrocketing and one-third of all seniors depend on Social Security for at least 90% of their income.

When Medicare was created for senior citizens and America 's disabled in 1965, about half of a senior's health care spending was on doctors and the other half on hospitals.

President Obama is closing the prescription drug doughnut hole. He strengthened Medicare! He extended the life of the program by eight years. And what Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan won't admit is that their plan would require current seniors to pay, on average, $600 more each year for prescription drugs.

If medicine was practiced in 1965 the way it's practiced today, there's no question that prescriptions would have been included in Medicare.

I'd never have guessed that, six years after Medicare introduced a drug benefit, it would still be forbidden to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies. Health reform might fix that, but it probably won't.

At the end of the day, my hope is that when the new Medicare- Prescription Drug Law gets up and fully running a lot more seniors will pay a whole lot less than they do today for their much-needed medications.

The key is to cut out the middleman and empower both doctor and patient with information about what things cost.

On Medicare, I would suggest ridding the system of fraud and bulk purchasing of prescription drugs, to begin with.

It is time that we provide clarity for our seniors, informing them of the services available that will lower the costs of their prescription drugs and strengthen the overall integrity of the Medicare entitlement.

Today, nearly 40 percent of a senior's healthcare spending is on pharmaceutical medications.

Prescription drugs today represent 60¢ on every dollar spent for health care. Ten years ago it was only 10¢.

There is simply no human justification for any American to suffer illness or neglect preventive care because of this fear of hospital bills and of the exorbitant prices of medicine.

Too many of our senior citizens are being forced to choose between neglecting their illnesses or being impoverished by them.

Anyone who has had even a mild illness knows that the cost of drugs is alarmingly high, and year by year becomes more of a burden, especially to the lower-income families. Modern drugs, like other advances in medicine and surgery, have meant that many more people are alive and well today than would have been a decade ago. Certainly, we must be prepared to pay whatever is necessary for the production and advancement of these life-saving drugs and techniques. I was shocked, however, by the revelations … that price-fixing and monopolistic practices have raised the cost of drugs far above what is reasonable or necessary.

I had, in my legal practice, often encountered really shocking examples of the devastating impact of the costs of long-term medical care on meager incomes. And, just before I was elected, I had my own personal experience in paying very considerable bills for my mother's terminal illness.