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Senior Citizen Politics
Consumers Union Urges Passage of Price Negotiation
for Medicare Drugs
Studies show real savings possible for seniors
citizens, taxpayers
January 12, 2007 - Consumers Union is urging
Congress this week to give Medicare the power to negotiate lower
prescription drug prices, as yet another study finds that prices paid by
seniors in the Medicare drug program are more than twice that paid by
the Department of Veterans Affairs, which negotiates prices.
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Politics for Senior Citizens |
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“Congress should take the handcuffs off Medicare
and let it negotiate better deals from the drug industry,” said Bill
Vaughan, senior policy analyst with Consumers Union, nonprofit publisher
of Consumer Reports. “Seniors and taxpayers deserve the best deal
possible, and right now, we simply aren’t getting a good price on
prescription drugs.”
Families USA released a study Tuesday showing
Medicare drug plan prices for the top 20 drugs prescribed to seniors are
58 percent higher than the same drugs provided to veterans by VA, which
negotiates prices. Those findings echo a recent study from Consumers
Union that examined drug prices paid by seniors in one large Florida
County.
The Consumers Union analysis, conducted in August
in Broward County, Fla., found that seniors could get a better price in
80 percent of instances by shopping around for their prescriptions
retail than they could get by paying the “full-cost” price under their
Part D plan.
Click here to read the full Consumers Union report.
The analysis also found that the VA prices were 54
percent lower than “full-cost” prices under Part D plans. The average
per drug VA price for the six drugs surveyed was $22.06 per drug; the
average “full-cost” price under the Medicare Part D plans surveyed in
Broward County was $48.38.
“If the Veterans Administration can knock half the
price off drugs for its beneficiaries, isn’t it worth giving Medicare
the same power to at least try for more savings?” Vaughan said.
Consumers Union surveyed in August the price of six
widely used prescription drugs at 261 retail pharmacies in Broward
County. Those prices were compared against the Part D “full-cost” price
for the same drugs offered by the 44 insurance plans operating in the
county. “Full-cost” price is what a Medicare beneficiary must pay once
they’ve used $2,250 of their drug benefit under most standard plans and
land in the so-called “doughnut hole” coverage gap.
For example, a 30-day supply of the most-prescribed
medication, Lipitor (10mg for reducing cholesterol), was available at a
Wal-Mart for $62.85. The lowest “full-cost” price for the same
prescription under a Medicare Part D plan was $67.46. The VA price for
that same drug and dose was $41.40.
Since Part D plans are offered by private insurance
companies, it is unknown what prices those companies are actually paying
manufacturers for prescription drugs, or whether they are passing on any
savings to Medicare enrollees who fall into the doughnut hole and must
pay full-cost price out of their own pockets.
Consumers Union is also urging Congress to offer a
Medicare-administered drug insurance plan – in addition to the private
plans – that would offer consistent premiums, drug coverage and prices.
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