Drug Pricing...
It has suddenly come to the attention of the mainstream media that the infamous Medicare “Plan D” hasn’t put a cap on prescription drug prices…duhh!This was predictable when the prescription drug bill was passed and would be adequate reason not to vote to reelect anyone currently serving in the US Congress.
When Medicare got itself into the pharmaceutical purchasing business it instantly made itself the number one purchaser of drugs in the US. This would have given our government the ability to negotiate across the board discounts on all pharmaceuticals on behalf of our senior and disabled consumers (I admit to being in the latter group). The marketplace could have been used to benefit all Americans.
This is what YOUR Congress did when they passed the bill.
They decreed that the Medicare establishment would purchase all drugs at the FULL RETAIL PRICE!
This in spite of the fact that Americans were already purchasing their meds from foreign sources who sold them at major discounts from what were available here in the good old US of A.
Congressional Representatives will reply to this criticism by saying “Well we had to make certain concessions to get the legislation passed…Now that we’ve established that Medicare can purchase drugs we can reform the legislation.” (this is known as the "camel getting his nose into the tent" approach to lawmaking.)
Meanwhile the program is paying much more for Plan D than would be necessary and the Drug companies are raising their prices even more.
posted by jipzeecab @ 6:26 PM
2 Comments
