New Drug Benefit Questioned(Dems say cheaper at VA, Costco, Drugstore.com)

WP: New Drug Benefit Questioned
Democrats' Report Cites Lower Prices From VA and in Canada
By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 23, 2005; Page A04


The new Medicare drug benefit fails to deliver drug prices as low as those found at the Department of Veterans Affairs, in Canada and at high-volume U.S. pharmacies, a congressional report said yesterday. It was challenged by a Medicare official as flawed and misleading.

The report, released yesterday by the Democratic staff of the House Government Reform Committee, found that the average prices of 10 popular drugs being offered to Medicare recipients through 10 well-known insurance plans were 80 percent higher than prices negotiated for the government by Veterans Affairs. The Medicare prices were 60 percent higher than average prices paid by Canadian consumers, the report found. And they were about 3 percent higher than those paid by consumers who got their drugs at Costco stores or online through Drugstore.com.

"The prices offered by the Medicare drug plans are higher than all four benchmarks, in some cases significantly so," the report concluded. "This increases costs to seniors and federal taxpayers and makes it doubtful that the complicated design of Medicare Part D provides any tangible benefit to anyone but drug manufacturers and insurers."

Gary Karr, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the report was disappointing but not surprising. "It's disappointing because it's selective and misleading, and because of the timing," Karr said....

***

During the congressional debate two years ago, many Democrats argued that the way to obtain the lowest prices for seniors would be to allow Medicare to negotiate discounts directly with pharmaceutical companies. Republicans maintained that the lowest drug prices would come through competition as scores of private insurers vied to attract seniors. The law establishing the benefit forbids the government from negotiating drug prices....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/22/AR2005112201662.html

Wasn't that the point?

:sarcasm:

prescription plan is one of the most confusing,complicated things I have ever see.

Two days ago a physician wrote an article in The Boston Globe.

He said he spent an entire day on his computer,with the list of hIs mother's presriptions in hand,and still couldn't figure out which of the many plans would be best for her.He asked how the average person could do it if he couldn't do it with his medical background.

This won't cost the taxpayer much because most of us seniors can't figure it out.

Another Bush boondoggle.

here's a link ... thanks for mentioning it ...

btw, AARP mailed out 'the top 65 questions about Medicare Rx' recently ... the 'top' 65 questions! That implies more than 65 questions. I find that 64 too many.

Guess who heads up Medicare? WH mouthpiece Scott McClellan's brother, Mark.
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/about/leadership/more_mcclellan.asp


In my neck of the woods, there are at least 47 options.

Choosing Mom's new drug benefit gave me a headache
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/11/18/choosing_moms_new_drug_benefit_gave_me_a_headache/
http://makeashorterlink.com/?J62D3543C

of course, that same google found that someone countered Dr. Pauker ... saying he gave Bu$h's 'pimp my drugs' plan (my name for it) ... a
"Bad rap on Medicare changes" ...
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2005/11/22/bad_rap_on_medicare_changes/
http://makeashorterlink.com/?J62D3543C

Sorry, Mr. Wool, it's not that simple.

a google of the writer, one Marvin S. Wool found he seems to be a 'regular' at the Boston Globe ...
I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't invested in Big Pharma ... he has a consultancy business called M.Wool Medical Consultants and a staff/associate of Management Decision Systems, Inc.

Marvin S. Wool, M.D., MPH - Dr. Wool is President of M.Wool Medical Consultants which since 1997 has helped a variety of managed care organizations, integrated delivery systems, hospitals, PHOs and physician groups achieve shared medical management, quality improvement and financial goals. He earned his M.D. from New York University School of Medicine, an MPH from Boston University School of Public Health and an AB (magna cum laude) from Lafayette College . He is a Member of the American College of Physician Executives and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians ...
Before founding his consulting firm, Dr. Wool practiced Internal Medicine and Endocrinology for 25 years and was a physician executive for 17 years. At the Lahey Clinic he was Medical Director of managed care programs which included both a commercial and Medicare HMO. At Harvard Pilgrim Health Care he was medical director for its Joint Ventures and for the Pilgrim Medicare HMO.
http://www.mandecsys.com/minime.htm

The original Medicare is a snap. I'm on Medicare. You get your card in the mail,put it in your wallet,and forget about it.

The prescription thing is so complicated it's almost funny.Almost.

at CVS and it doesn't cost anything extra. We are getting our prescription prices cut in half because of our AAA card. Membership cost 36 bucks for two cars and the money saved in prescriptions is more then worth it.

My husband hasn't joined any prescription coverage plan because we see no savings.

is the fact that some seniors that are in a healthcare plan, such as Kaiser, cannot join the benefit plan unless they want to lose their health plan on whole.

My Mom was advised by Kaiser to decline enrollment in any plan or she would have to forfeit her enrollment in Kaiser. Unless a senior were to have discussed this kind of thing with their 'packaged' healthcare provider, they would never know about the dis-enrollment feature.

This PHP was poorly thought-out and terribly put forced down the throats of those who can least afford it. Shame, SHAME on every member who voted on it! I'll bet those "gentlemen" and "gentlewomen" from each state who voted for it could not find their way through the plan with both hands and a map!

are bought. Then the "catastrophic" discounts begin. Nothing essentially has changed, except that most Seniors will be confused and STILL sign up for "Part D"...which means an additional, sizeable discount will be deducted from their SS monthly benefit. Then they STILL have to pay for the inflated drug prices. And I've tried again and again calling SS directly on this, and continually get a recording telling me if I have questions, to go DIRECTLY TO my local SS office for the answers. Most Senior or Disabled would find this difficult. Not to mention the LONGGGGG wait at SS offices. How absurd!

Then again, most chain drug stores, and Costco, etc. offer a 10-20% discount, and that's about the best Medicare recipients can receive. To buy an ADDITIONAL, SUPPLEMENTAL policy...means hundreds more per year, PLUS meds...is irrational. In asking my phramacist at local pharmacy, I noted his displeasure when I mentioned I would NOT be signing up for "Part D." While normally cooperative, he seemed to urge me to...saying I'd be penalized by Medicare the longer I waited to sign up. That IS the answer then...NO ONE BUT THE DRUG COMPANIES, AND THE PHARMACIES benefit from the "new" Part D.

The saddest part is that this minimal 10-20% discount off RETAIL drug prices, means Seniors and Disabled will be paying 80% of retail drug prices, while most other citizens on private health plans pay about 20% of retail drug costs on said private health plans. And the irony IS, the working people, with higher incomes, CAN afford to pay a higher amount for drugs than Seniors and Disabled. Not that anyone with coverage (Medicare OR private) ever SHOULD have to.

Spent Saturday afternoon - 5-hrs in a Medicare Part-D Seminar, hosted by the County Council on Aging, Local Hospital administrators, Lawyers, who became as versed as they possibly could be with this deplorable piece of crap.

What would be hillarious if it isn't so damn frightening, is that these same Seminar Hosts have been asked to meet this coming weekend with our Congress Reps so they could educate them on this farce... Medicare Part-D. The very same elected Representatives who voted and signed off on this windfall for the writers of the bill, the Pharmeceutical and Insurance Companies.

The Seminar lawyer said he was surprised that more seniors and caregivers weren't contacting their elected Representatives and they had hopes that if enough called, that this could be delayed long enough for them to rewrite or study it further and come up with a simpler, understandable program.

Don't let them off the hook for this. This bill was bad news from the get-go.

Bush has set it up so that there can be no bargaining with pharm companies and that this will bankrupt the system and simply be too confusing.

When it fails, the repukes can say "we knew it wouldn't work"

I take a number of pills every day, and was without insurance for a few months between jobs. All are generics.

I did some shopping around. I checked Canada, Drugstore.com, CVS, Rite Aide and Wally World. COSTCO was at least 1/3 cheaper than any of the others. One of my meds was $160 at Wally World, the next cheapest, but $18 at COSTCO.

FYI.

I handle all of the prescriptions my elderly aunt takes. The bulk of them I buy thru the mail (saving about 1/2 off of what she used to pay at K-Mart).
A few of the drugs I get at CVS because the doctor changes dosages constantly, and it doesn't make sense to buy in volume. One of these drugs is Procardia. The last time I filled a prescription of Procardia, it cost $60.00.
Tonite, when I got to the counter, the price was $117.00! When I cried foul, they ran it again under her blue/cross and the price was $95.00, so even at the lower price, it cost over $30.00 more than the last filling.

I don't know if this is due to new "plan", but I bet it is....