Changes to Part D for Seniors in Doughnut Hole

[insurance0707]

This was interesting......

Baucus, White House in deal with drug industry - Yahoo! News

Basically the pharmacutical companies will pay 1/2 the cost of namebrand drugs for seniors in the doughnut hole.

It's a start

 

[GreenSky]

Sounds great unless you are a stockholder in the drug companies or are not on Medicare. Someone has to pay the price.

Rick

 

[ronmelton3]

Sounds great unless you are a stockholder in the drug companies or are not on Medicare. Someone has to pay the price.

Rick

Perhaps if you were spending 1/4 of your income on your health care, or have to settle for high copays because you can't afford $100-200 per month in addition to $96.40 in order to buy groceries, you might see things differently.
Pharmaceutical companies like insurance companies are seeing the writing on the wall. Their greed in coming to an end. It's damage control for them now.

 

[insurance0707]

Excellent point Ron...I don't think the greed is coming to an end for the pharmacutical companies. If they were, you'd see the government negotiating prices on prescriptions for people on Medicare, just like they do for the VA and people on Medicaid and in foreign countires. If the government would get the pharmacutical companies to give them lower rates for the large Medicare population than you'd see the prices on prescriptions really drop. I'm not complaining, at least they're offering to pay 1/2 of drug costs during the gap. If the governement really wanted to lower the costs, they'd negotiate the lower prices.

Here's a great article on this.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/opinion/12fri1.html

 

[Professor Leads]

Perhaps if you were spending 1/4 of your income on your health care, or have to settle for high copays because you can't afford $100-200 per month in addition to $96.40 in order to buy groceries, you might see things differently.
Pharmaceutical companies like insurance companies are seeing the writing on the wall. Their greed in coming to an end. It's damage control for them now.

That "greed" funds research. That research leads to further development of newer and better drugs.

How many life-saving pharmaceuticals are developed in communist/socialist/statist/collectivist countries? How many are developed in our free market economy?

See the bigger picture besides the CNN sob-stories about people who can't afford their medicine but sure as heck are not going to give up their cable.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Excellent point Ron...I don't think the greed is coming to an end for the pharmacutical companies. If they were, you'd see the government negotiating prices on prescriptions for people on Medicare, just like they do for the VA and people on Medicaid and in foreign countires. If the government would get the pharmacutical companies to give them lower rates for the large Medicare population than you'd see the prices on prescriptions really drop. I'm not complaining, at least they're offering to pay 1/2 of drug costs during the gap. If the governement really wanted to lower the costs, they'd negotiate the lower prices.

Here's a great article on this.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/opinion/12fri1.html

First off its from the NYtimes, and second, show me one instance where government intervention into healthcare didn't inflate prices.........there isnt any, thats the cost of red tape.........

 

[insurance0707]

The article gives you two instances where government intervention i.e. negotiating lower prescription prices with medicaid and the VA brought about tremendous savings. My point is if the government can negotiate lower prescription costs for VA and Medicaid why can't they do it with Medicare.

They're are a heck of alot more people on Medicare than Medicaid and VA.

 

[GreenSky]

The article gives you two instances where government intervention i.e. negotiating lower prescription prices with medicaid and the VA brought about tremendous savings. My point is if the government can negotiate lower prescription costs for VA and Medicaid why can't they do it with Medicare.

They're are a heck of alot more people on Medicare than Medicaid and VA.

If you use force to lower prices for one segment of the population, the prices will have to rise for others.

I do have compassion for people who can't afford their medication. The FDA, as much as any drug company, has kept the price of medication high by limiting options.

Before Part D there was nothing to help seniors, and yes, the desgin sucks. But because of increased demand, drug prices have risen.

I don't know what the alternative is but goverment intervention rarely has the desired effect (see war on drugs, poverty, etc.)

Rick

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

The FDA, as much as any drug company, has kept the price of medication high by limiting options.

As well as the pharmaceutical lobby, which basically owns these nitwit Representatives and Senators that we keep sending back to Congress.

 

[ronmelton3]

As well as the pharmaceutical lobby, which basically owns these nitwit Representatives and Senators that we keep sending back to Congress.

Amen brother, why is it that we pay substantially more for our own drugs, yet buying out of Canada is much less? It's because the country (Canada) actually negotiates the price with the drug companies here in the US. Why is it that the pharmaceutical companies do not want you buying out of Canada? It's greed. Heck they manufacture it overseas.

Yes, I believe it takes money for R&D. But does the cost justify it not being available to the ones who need it because they can't afford it?