Medicare

Medicare Fair Prescription Drug Price Act of 2007

atraub — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:52:29 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Percentage increase between 2000 and 2006 in the cost of brand-name drugs commonly prescribed to seniors: 53.6

Percentage rate of general inflation during this period: 20.1

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: 80

Estimated amount taxpayers and Medicare beneficiaries would save in 2008 alone if the federal government negotiated drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies: $30 billion

Lowest Medicare Part D price in 2006 for a year of treatment with Zocor, a popular drug for patients with high cholesterol: $1,485.96

Lowest VA price in 2006 for a year of treatment with Zocor: $127.44

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Supports: Often living on fixed incomes, America’s seniors struggle to cope with prescription drug prices that increase every year. The new Medicare prescription drug plan was ostensibly designed to save these seniors money on needed medications. But the plan provides far less savings than it could – both for the seniors it covers and for the taxpayers who bear the costs of the new plan – because it fails to take advantage of the federal government’s ability to negotiate for better prices by buying drugs in bulk. For example, if the federal government were to buy a million pills of cholesterol-lowering medication, enough for every Medicare recipient in the country, they could receive a very low price because of the huge quantity. Instead of realizing these savings, the program relies on individual insurance plans to make drug purchases. Because none of these individual insurers has the purchasing power of the federal government, the result is a less efficient system with higher prices.

Most industrialized countries, including Canada, use the government’s bulk purchasing power to bargain for better drug prices. Domestically, the United States Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) also uses this common-sense practice to reduce its costs. Studies suggest that the prices negotiated by the VA for many drugs are substantially lower than those offered under the new Medicare plan. Middle-class Americans, whether they are senior citizens, taxpayers or both, cannot afford to see the federal government squander this opportunity to rein in the ever-escalating costs of prescription drugs.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

“Medicare: Prescription Drugs,” from Families USA

National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices

“Celebrating Pork: The Dubious Success of the Medicare Drug Benefit,” by Dean Baker from the Center for Economic Policy Research

“Price Negotiation Would Dramatically Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs for Medicare Beneficiaries,” from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007

atraub — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:48:40 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Percentage increase between 2000 and 2006 in the cost of brand-name drugs commonly prescribed to seniors: 53.6

Percentage rate of general inflation during this period: 20.1

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: 80

Estimated amount taxpayers and Medicare beneficiaries would save in 2008 alone if the federal government negotiated drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies: $30 billion

Lowest Medicare Part D price in 2006 for a year of treatment with Zocor, a popular drug for patients with high cholesterol: $1,485.96

Lowest VA price in 2006 for a year of treatment with Zocor: $127.44

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

“Medicare: Prescription Drugs,” from Families USA

National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices

“Celebrating Pork: The Dubious Success of the Medicare Drug Benefit,” by Dean Baker from the Center for Economic Policy Research

“Price Negotiation Would Dramatically Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs for Medicare Beneficiaries,” from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (House vote)

atraub — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:53:19 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Opposes

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Estimated amount of child support that will go uncollected over five years due to this bill’s cuts to enforcement budgets, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO): $2.9 billion
Amount of additional childcare funding the CBO estimates states would need over five years to provide programs enabling welfare recipients to meet the new work requirements in this bill: $8.4 billion

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Opposes. Hurricane Katrina’s devastating aftermath starkly revealed the deep inequalities and entrenched poverty that still afflict our nation. In the wake of the disaster, many hoped that Congress would renew its focus on the hurdles faced by low-income Americans struggling to attain a measure of middle-class security. In the midst of a prolonged budget fight that continued well into 2006, Congress instead approved this legislation, providing inadequate funding to Katrina survivors and imposing arduous new work requirements on welfare recipients while cutting back on programs like Medicaid, foster care and child support that ensure the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable children get a fair and healthy start in life. At the same time, the budget squeezes new government recepits from financially-strapped parents and college students paying student loans, increasing financial hardship for those striving to get the education that can enable them to enter the middle class. While reducing deficits was the pretext for this budgetary attack on the aspiring middle class, the bill’s supporters conveniently ignored the fact that these deficits originated in Congress’ own frequent rounds of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, more of which were set to be approved in 2006. Slashing services for the poor to finance tax cuts for the rich is a recipe for shrinking the American middle class.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Senate vote)

atraub — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:38:59 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Opposes

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Estimated amount of child support that will go uncollected over five years due to this bill’s cuts to enforcement budgets, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO): $2.9 billion

Amount of additional childcare funding the CBO estimates states would need over five years to provide programs enabling welfare recipients to meet the new work requirements in this bill: $8.4 billion

Amount of childcare funding the bill provides to meet the requirements: $1 billion

Estimated number of child care slots for low-income families that would be lost by 2010 as a result of the shortfall: 255,000

Maximum co-pay states were usually allowed to charge low-income Medicaid beneficiaries for medical services and prescription drugs prior to this bill: $3

Co-pay a family of three with an income of $24,500 dollars could now be expected to make for a day of hospitalization, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: $320

Cost increase per $10,000 borrowed for parents taking out PLUS loans to help their children attend college due to this bill: $382

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

Amendment on Negotiating Medicare Drug Prices of 2005

jon — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:24:19 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Supports

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

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

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Often living on fixed incomes, America's seniors struggle to cope with prescription drug prices that increase every year. The new Medicare prescription drug plan was ostensibly designed to save these seniors money on needed medications. But the plan provides far less savings than it could -- both for the seniors it covers and for the taxpayers who bear the costs of the new plan -- because it fails to take advantage of the federal government's ability to negotiate for better prices by buying in bulk. Instead, the program relies on individual insurance plans, none of which has the purchasing power of the federal government, to make drug purchases, resulting in a less efficient system with higher prices. Not only do most industrialized countries, including Canada, use their bulk purchasing power to bargain for better drug prices, but the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) also uses this common-sense practice to reduce its costs. Studies suggest that the prices negotiated by the VA for many drugs are substantially lower than those offered under the new Medicare plan. Middle-class Americans, whether they are senior citizens, taxpayers or both, cannot afford to see the federal government squander this opportunity to rein in the ever-escalating costs of prescription drugs.

Medicare

Medicare Fair Prescription Drug Price Act of 2007

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (House vote)

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Senate vote)

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Amendment on Negotiating Medicare Drug Prices of 2005

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources