Show #245 Airing: Sunday, February 29, 2004
Have you been to the pharmacy lately? The cost of prescription drugs continues to skyrocket. Congress recently enacted a prescription drug benefit under Medicare. But the new law does nothing to put a lid on the escalating costs of medicine.
Are there no practical solutions? Let me tell you about our fellow citizens in the State of Maine. Maine pays a lot of money for medications under its Medicaid program. Maine decided to use its huge buying power to negotiate lower costs. The State went to the pharmaceutical companies and told them: if you want to continue to participate in Medicaid, if you want our millions and millions of Medicaid dollars, then you have to cut the cost of prescription drugs for all Maine citizens.
The drug companies reacted predictably. They took Maine to court. But after years of litigation, the drug companies lost. And Maine has gained huge discounts, often 50 to 60 percent, for its citizens.
Now why do I tell you this story? After all, what goes on in Maine doesn’t help us here.
If Maine could use its buying power to get 50 or 60 percent discounts, what could the federal government get if it tried negotiating with the drug companies? The federal government pays billions of dollars in Medicaid money for medicines. And now under the new Prescription Drug law, the federal government will be paying billions of dollars more under Medicare.
Just think what the federal government could do if it took the same approach as the State of Maine. Uncle Sam could say: “If you want to participate in Medicaid and Medicare, if you want our billions of dollars, then you have to do something for us. We want you to lower the costs.”
What do you think the drug companies would do? They’d cut the costs of medicines. Big time. That would save the federal government money, which is our tax money. And it would save us all money on our personal medicine bills.
And Congress had the perfect opportunity to act. When adopting the new Prescription Drug Bill, Congress could have ordered the government to negotiate the best possible deal to cut drug costs. Congress didn’t do that. In fact, Congress did just the opposite.
In a disgraceful sellout to the drug companies, Congress specifically prohibited the federal government from trying to negotiate lower medicine bills.
Whatever happened to free enterprise? When you buy a car, you negotiate. When you buy a house, you negotiate. If you own a business, when you make purchases, you certainly negotiate. That’s capitalism. Why won’t Congress let the government negotiate to get us lower taxes and lower drug prices?
Why don’t you call your elected officials and ask. The number to call is 202-224-3121. Wouldn’t you like to hear their reasoning? Then, if you like, let me know the responses and I’d be happy to report them on a future show. That is, if you can get anyone in Washington to give you a straight answer.
