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Senior Citizen Politics
New York Times Urges Congress Pass HR 4: Bargain
Medicare Drug Prices
Suggests HHS Secretary negotiate just on prices
most out of line
January 12, 2007 - The New York Times today
editorially supported HR 4, the Democrat-crafted legislation to have
Health & Human Services negotiate with drug companies for better prices
for senior citizens in the Medicare drug program.
Editorial: Negotiating Lower Drug Prices
The newspaper editorial said the bill is
sufficiently flexible to allow older Americans to benefit from the best
efforts of both the government and the private drug plans.
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House Votes Today on Negotiating Medicare Drug
Prices in Shadow of Bush Veto
Not much coverage in national news on important
vote for senior citizens
January 12, 2007 Its an important day for more
than 30 million American senior citizens who depend on the Medicare
prescription drug program to help lower their skyrocketing drug costs.
The House is expected to pass legislation that will mandate the
government negotiate prices for these drugs with the drug-makers, rather
than leaving this in the hands of the private insurance plans.
Read more...
Read more
on
Politics for Senior Citizens |
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The Times actually presented an idea on how the
bill that has not been widely considered before. The NYT suggests the
HHS secretary exert his bargaining power with drug companies in those
cases in which the private plans have failed to rein in unduly high
prices leaving the rest to the drug plans. The result could be lower
costs for consumers and savings for the taxpayers who support Medicare.
Under the current program, which the Times says was
written to appease the pharmaceutical industry, the bargaining for
drug prices is left to each of the private health plans.
The administration argues, correctly, that the
private plans have held costs down and that there is no guarantee the
government will do any better, acknowledges the NYT.
The secretary does have the bully pulpit, which he
can use to try to bring down the cost of overpriced drugs, the
editorial says.
The key to the NYT editorial says, The bill also
does not require the secretary to negotiate prices for all 4,400 drugs
used by beneficiaries. A smart secretary could simply determine which
prices paid by the plans seemed most out of line with the prices paid by
other purchasers and then negotiate only on those drugs.
The private plans are explicitly allowed to
negotiate even lower prices if they can. This sort of flexibility should
pose no threat to the free market. It is time for the Medicare drug
program to work harder for its beneficiaries without worrying so much
about the pharmaceutical companies.
Read more at NY Times
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