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Senior Citizen Politics
Families USA Report Challenges GOP Claim of Lower
Medicare Drug Prices
Shows prices grew almost four times faster that
inflation
April 19, 2007 A report released yesterday by
Families USA says assertions by Republicans and the Bush Administration
that the current Medicare prescription drug program has brought down
drug prices, the opposite has occurred. "Prices of the most-prescribed
drugs for seniors rose steeply last year," the report says.
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The report by the consumer health organization was
released on the same day Senate Republicans managed to block
consideration of a bill allowing Medicare to bargain for cheaper prices.
It examined Medicare Part D drug plan price changes from April 2006 to
April 2007 for the top 15 drugs prescribed to seniors, such as Celebrex,
Fosamax, and Lipitor.
According to the report, the median Part D drug
price increase was 9.2 percent - almost four times the latest inflation
rate (2.4 percent) and almost three times the increase in this year-s
cost-of-living adjustment in Social Security (3.3 percent). Among the
price increases catalogued by the report were the following:
● A year-s supply of Celebrex (200 mg), an
anti-inflammatory drug, rose in price from $946.44 to $1,033.32, an
increase of 9.2 percent.
● Lipitor (10 mg), a cholesterol-lowering drug, rose in price from
$785.40 to $857.40, also an increase of 9.2 percent.
● The price of Fosamax (70 mg), an osteoporosis treatment, rose from
$727.92 to $806.16, an increase of 10.7 percent.
● Prevacid (30 mg), a gastrointestinal agent, jumped in price from
$1,395.48 to $1,547.40, an increase of 10.9 percent.
● The price of Lexapro (10 mg), a drug used to treat depression, rose
from $706.20 to $812.16, an increase of 15.0 percent.
"Contrary to promises made by the Administration,
Medicare Part D drug prices skyrocketed last year," said Ron Pollack,
Executive Director of Families USA. "Those fast-rising prices are making
drugs increasingly unaffordable for seniors and are fleecing America-s
taxpayers."
The Families USA report examined changes in the
lowest drug prices charged to seniors among the plans offered by the
five largest insurers: UnitedHealthcare, Humana, WellPoint/Unicare,
Member Health, and WellCare. Together these plans enrolled almost
two-thirds (65 percent) of all Part D beneficiaries. Since these plans
have the largest enrollment, they are in the best position, among Part D
plans, to secure optimal prices from the pharmaceutical companies.
All of the prices catalogued in the Families USA
report were the prices reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) by the insurers.
"The Senate-s vote today will prevent Medicare from
bargaining for cheaper drugs, and it will hit seniors and taxpayers hard
in the pocketbook," Pollack said. "But growing majorities in both houses
of Congress to change the law augurs well for a future, successful
lifting of the current bargaining restrictions."
"As this report shows, the cost of drugs most
commonly used by seniors in Part D are still increasing much faster than
inflation. They're taking bigger bites than ever out of Social Security
checks and life savings. Meanwhile, drug industry profits have soared
as they take advantage of legislation that unfairly tilted toward
company bottom lines, not seniors' health," Senator Edward Kennedy said.
"It's time for Congress to put the needs of seniors
first. Yet what did our Republican colleagues do today? They blocked us
from debating a bill to allow Medicare to negotiate to get better drug
prices. Time and again, the interests of the drug industry are put
ahead of the interests of the elderly."
"Seniors are paying too much for their prescription
drugs, and this report confirms that," said Senator Debbie Stabenow.
Only special interest groups benefit from the current policy, and I am
disappointed that a minority of the Senate blocked our efforts to change
that policy this morning. The fight to let Medicare negotiate lower
drugs will continue - it is in the best interest of seniors, families,
and taxpayers.
I'm confident that prescription drugs would be
more affordable if our seniors, through Medicare, had a seat the
bargaining table. Instead, they have been shut out of the process
allowing prices to soar exponentially, said Senator Mark Pryor said.
With today's defeat, President Bush and his Republican colleagues in
the Senate have shown seniors and taxpayers that they don't want to make
Medicare more cost-effective. My message to them is that this fight
isn't over. We will get this bill passed and provide seniors with more
affordable life-saving drugs.
Banning the government from negotiating with the
prescription drug companies imposes substantial and unnecessary costs on
America's taxpayers and seniors, who - as Families USA clearly reveals
in their report today - are paying excessive prices for prescription
medications, said Senator Amy Klobuchar. Yet, this administration and
its Secretary of Health and Human Services have shown absolutely no
interest in the potential of negotiation. It is time to lift this
useless ban and step up to the bargaining table.
The report is available on the Families USA Web
site at
www.familiesusa.org.
In January 2007, Families USA issued a report
demonstrating that Medicare Part D drug plan prices were 58 percent
higher than the prices charged to veterans by the Department of Veterans
Affairs. This report, titled No Bargain: Medicare Drug Plans Deliver
High Prices, is also available on Families USA-s Web site.
Families USA is the national organization for
health care consumers. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that
advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.
Web site:
www.familiesusa.org
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