To ensure that any savings associated with legislation that authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to use the collective purchasing power of 40,000,000 Medicare beneficiaries to negotiate the best possible prices for prescription drugs provided through part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act in fallback plans, by private drug plans (if asked) and in other circumstances, but not permitting a uniform formulary or price setting, is reserved for deficit reduction of to improve the Medicare drug benefit.

SA 3004. Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. Wyden, and Mrs. Feinstein)
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the concurrent
resolution S. Con. Res. 83, setting forth the congressional budget for
the United States Government for fiscal year 2007 and including the
appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2006 and 2008 through
2011; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of title III, insert the following:

SEC. ____. RESERVE FUND FOR THE NEGOTIATION OF THE BEST
POSSIBLE PRICE FOR PRESCRIPTION DRUGS THROUGH
MEDICARE PART D.

The Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the Senate
may revise the aggregates, allocations, functional totals,
and other appropriate levels and limits in this resolution
upon enactment of legislation that allows the Secretary of
Health and Human Services to use the collective purchasing
power of 40,000,000 Medicare beneficiaries to negotiate the
best possible prices for prescription drugs provided through
part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act in fallback
plans and, if asked, by private drug plans, and in other
circumstances, but not permitting price setting or a uniform
formulary, by the amount of savings in that legislation, to
ensure that those savings are reserved for deficit reduction
or to improve the Medicare part D drug benefit.
______