Why can't Medicare negotiate with drug companies for the best price like the VA does?

Here's a left over from the Bush administration that is draining billions from our pockets every year. Medicare is not "allowed" to negotiate prices for prescription drugs with the pharmaceutical companies. This is a situation that only benefits the drug companies, certainly takes money out of the pockets of seniors and raises the cost of medicine for everyone. Copy and paste the link at the end if you want to add your name to Al Franken's petition!

Here’s the best idea you’ll hear all day: Medicare should be able to negotiate with the drug companies to get better prices on prescriptions for seniors.

This simple reform would cut spending -- by around $24 billion a year -- without hurting seniors. In fact, seniors would end up paying less for their prescriptions.

Even better, we know this would work, because this exact strategy is already working for the Veterans Administration, which uses its size to negotiate with drug companies and, according to a recent study, gets the top ten most prescribed drugs at half the price Medicare pays.

Help me fight for this common-sense solution: Click here to sign my petition calling on Washington to allow Medicare to negotiate with the drug companies!

There are nearly 50 million seniors who rely on Medicare. And if they were allowed to band together and negotiate, they could get a far better deal on the prescriptions they need.

But they can’t -- because Medicare is prohibited from negotiating like that. Why? There’s only one reason: to protect drug company profits.

The drug companies are doing fine without this handout. It’s seniors on Medicare who need the help. And taxpayers need us to be looking for smart ways to cut spending.

This makes too much sense not to do. So click here and sign my petition -- let’s tell Washington that Medicare should be able to negotiate!

See? Isn’t this the best idea you’ve heard all day?

Thanks for helping me get this done.

Al

P.S.: Make sure you sign my petition today-- but then don’t just take the rest of the day off. Tell your friends and let’s build support for this common-sense solution.
http://www.alfranken.com/index.php/splash/e1304rx

Blaming Bush is incorrect. There was a clear path to solve this problem in 2008, but President Obama chose to get the Affordable Care Act passed and only received pennies on the dollar from drug companies who got on board and ran ads. President Obama's chief of Staff and now Mayor of chicago had deep ties with the drug companies......and the deal was cut. I agree completely that we need to lower drug payments by meeting western europe and canada pricing.

Nope shoe is right and too blame Bush is correct on this one:

Estimating how much money could be saved if Medicare had been allowed to negotiate drug prices, economist Dean Baker gives a "most conservative high-cost scenario" of $332 billion between 2006 and 2013 (approximately $50 billion a year), and a "middle cost scenario" of $563 billion in savings "for the same budget window".[28]
Former Congressman Billy Tauzin, R-La., who steered the bill through the House, retired soon after and took a $2 million a year job as president of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the main industry lobbying group. Medicare boss Thomas Scully, who threatened to fire Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster if he reported how much the bill would actually cost, was negotiating for a new job as a pharmaceutical lobbyist as the bill was working through Congress.[29][30] A total of 14 congressional aides quit their jobs to work for the drug and medical lobbies immediately after the bill's passage.

The ACA helps the Part D but only by closing the donut hole. I do agree they do need to be able to negotiate live the VA, but it seems all the repugs that pushed this thru were rewarded handsomely.

doubtingthomas wrote:Nope shoe is right and too blame Bush is correct on this one:

Estimating how much money could be saved if Medicare had been allowed to negotiate drug prices, economist Dean Baker gives a "most conservative high-cost scenario" of $332 billion between 2006 and 2013 (approximately $50 billion a year), and a "middle cost scenario" of $563 billion in savings "for the same budget window".[28]
Former Congressman Billy Tauzin, R-La., who steered the bill through the House, retired soon after and took a $2 million a year job as president of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the main industry lobbying group. Medicare boss Thomas Scully, who threatened to fire Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster if he reported how much the bill would actually cost, was negotiating for a new job as a pharmaceutical lobbyist as the bill was working through Congress.[29][30] A total of 14 congressional aides quit their jobs to work for the drug and medical lobbies immediately after the bill's passage.

The ACA helps the Part D but only by closing the donut hole. I do agree they do need to be able to negotiate live the VA, but it seems all the repugs that pushed this thru were rewarded handsomely.

please do tell us how this is bushes fault?

medicare has a set price for everything. They set their fee schedule, no one else.

CMS develops fee schedules for physicians, ambulance services, clinical laboratory services, and durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies. See Related Links below for information about each specific fee schedule.
http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/FeeScheduleGenInfo/index.html?redirect=/feeschedulegeninfo/

ignorant

Was there any notice as to the corps immediately after the "law" was passed? Who do you think wrote it?

While campaigning for the presidency, Obama often spoke about taking on drug companies and allowing Medicare to have bargaining power over prices. He also supported the re-importation of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada as a way to lower health care costs. But in order to get Pharma support for the Affordable Care Act, these two measures were taken off the table and left out of the legislation...........so we blame Bush because the President could have negotiated lower Medicare, Medicaid, and VA drug prices.....and he folded......and did not keep his campaign promises.....even hard core Democrats know he folded to get big Pharma support......he had the last clear chance to start real cost reform in prescription drugs and he compromised, and the American people lost.....period.

Chrissy wrote:

doubtingthomas wrote:Nope shoe is right and too blame Bush is correct on this one:

Estimating how much money could be saved if Medicare had been allowed to negotiate drug prices, economist Dean Baker gives a "most conservative high-cost scenario" of $332 billion between 2006 and 2013 (approximately $50 billion a year), and a "middle cost scenario" of $563 billion in savings "for the same budget window".[28]
Former Congressman Billy Tauzin, R-La., who steered the bill through the House, retired soon after and took a $2 million a year job as president of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the main industry lobbying group. Medicare boss Thomas Scully, who threatened to fire Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster if he reported how much the bill would actually cost, was negotiating for a new job as a pharmaceutical lobbyist as the bill was working through Congress.[29][30] A total of 14 congressional aides quit their jobs to work for the drug and medical lobbies immediately after the bill's passage.

The ACA helps the Part D but only by closing the donut hole. I do agree they do need to be able to negotiate live the VA, but it seems all the repugs that pushed this thru were rewarded handsomely.

please do tell us how this is bushes fault?

medicare has a set price for everything. They set their fee schedule, no one else.

CMS develops fee schedules for physicians, ambulance services, clinical laboratory services, and durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies. See Related Links below for information about each specific fee schedule.
http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/FeeScheduleGenInfo/index.html?redirect=/feeschedulegeninfo/

ignorant

The point about Medicare Part D isn't only that there is no negotiation for the lowest prices possible considering the quantity of drugs they buy (the market in action? A good thing usually free market way of looking at things?)but that it was not funded in the first place. It was a big giveaway that wasn't paid for. So much for fiscal responsibility.

Just to be clear, the Medicare drug benefit was a pure giveaway with a gross cost greater than either the House or Senate health reform bills how being considered. Together the new bills would cost roughly $900 billion over the next 10 years, while Medicare Part D will cost $1 trillion.

Moreover, there is a critical distinction--the drug benefit had no dedicated financing, no offsets and no revenue-raisers; 100% of the cost simply added to the federal budget deficit, whereas the health reform measures now being debated will be paid for with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases, adding nothing to the deficit over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. (See here for the Senate bill estimate and here for the House bill.)

http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/19/republican-budget-hypocrisy-health-care-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html

Who wrote it?

Progressives, the Medicare Part "D" as proposed by the Democrats was far more expensive during the negotiations. The Republican plan was adopted and we are still going broke.

What difference does it make Progressives? We have OBAMACARE so everything is going to be free, quick and run with the efficiency of the Postal Service.

The cost of ObamaCare is already over $1.7 TRILLION more than forecast and getting higher by the day.

We'll shortly be $17 TRILLION in DEBT and more than $20 TRILLION by the chance President Barack Hussein Obama leaves office.

President Obama has already slashed $700 billion from Medicare so seniors can expect to start feeling the pain of cuts shortly.

PkrBum wrote:Who wrote it?

The drug companies no doubt had major input into the writing of the bill. Congressional input:

Former Congressman Billy Tauzin, R-La., who steered the bill through the House, retired soon after and took a $2 million a year job as president of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the main industry lobbying group. Medicare boss Thomas Scully, who threatened to fire Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster if he reported how much the bill would actually cost, was negotiating for a new job as a pharmaceutical lobbyist as the bill was working through Congress.[29][30] A total of 14 congressional aides quit their jobs to work for the drug and medical lobbies immediately after the bill's passage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Part_D

Markle wrote:

The cost of ObamaCare is already over $1.7 TRILLION more than forecast and getting higher by the day.

That is by far the biggest inaccuracy you have ever posted. The entire cost of the program is $1.3Trillion through 2022.