Percentage increase in the cost brand-name drugs commonly prescribed to seniors between 2000 and 2005: 40.5
Percentage rate of general inflation during this period: 17.5
Percentage of Americans who support the idea of Congress allowing the federal government to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices on Medicare prescription drugs: 77
Projected cost to the federal government of the first ten years of the Medicare prescription drug benefit: $723 billion
Minimum estimated savings compared to the current system if Medicare were to negotiate drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies over the first eight years of the program, according to the Center for Economic Policy Research: $332 billion
Median reduction in the annual cost of 49 of the 50 most frequently prescribed drugs when purchased through the VA rather than by using Medicare drug discount cards: $220.44