Since I’m stuck at work on a Friday afternoon, I’m going to keep beating this horse. Yesterday’s New York Times has an article about what the Democrats would like to accomplish on the health care front if they take back Congress. At the top of their list is trying fix the abhorrent Medicare prescription drug benefit that Republicans and Big Pharma greased through Congress in 2003. Out of all the malicious legislation to come out of Congress during Bush’s presidency, Medicare Part D has got to rank pretty high. It provides inadequate coverage to seniors at ridiculously inflated prices and was designed as a giveaway to the drug companies. The critical flaw in the program, by design of course, is that it bars Medicare from purchasing its own drugs in bulk, which would allow them to bargain for lower prices. Instead, it presents seniors with a dizzying array of competing plans from private insurers, costing Medicare and the American taxpayers far more than it ought to.
Many Democrats in the House and the Senate say they want federal officials to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to obtain lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries. The 2003 Medicare law explicitly prohibits such negotiations.
Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, said that if Democrats were in control, they would try to repeal that ban in the first 100 hours after the House convenes.
Private insurers already negotiate drug discounts for Medicare beneficiaries, but Democrats say the government could get a better deal.
“I don’t know that we could undo all the private plans,” said Representative Pete Stark of California, who would be chairman of an important health subcommittee if Democrats were in the majority. “But at least we could offer a government-administered drug benefit. Under the existing program, we virtually guarantee the insurance companies against loss, which is a ludicrous position for us to be in.”
Ever the shill for the party in power, the Congressional Budget Office is blowing smoke, disputing the obvious savings.
The Congressional Budget Office says that lifting the ban on federal negotiation with drug companies “would have a negligible effect on federal spending” because federal officials could probably not negotiate prices much lower than those obtained by insurers in a highly competitive private market.
This is so dishonest. It’s a widely cited fact that the Veteran’s Administration , which bargains with drug companies for bulk purchases, pays 70% below retail for prescription drugs. Granted, the infrastructure is different, but it’s crazy to think that Medicare couldn’t save some serious money if it were able to administer a government plan.
Despite complaints of many in the medical profession over the bureaucratic nature of Medicare, it’s a popular government program that works. Medicare Part D, with its inconsistent coverage and unnecessary complexity, is a stain on the overwhelmingly positive legacy of Medicare. Fixing it is an important first step towards greater things.
- Zach Shoup