It’s about time!

If Democrats gain control of the House and Senate in a few weeks, expect some major changes.

According to the NY Times article Confident Democrats Draft Broad Health Care Agenda , one of those changes will be a change in the 2003 Medicare law so as to allow “federal officials to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to obtain lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries.” At the moment private insurers negotiate for drug discounts.

The question is--- how motivated are the insurers to get the best deal?

Not much. Why? Because no matter what, the prices of the drugs are passed unto the insured (that's you). In fact, Medicare also provides the insurance companies with a windfall ---for providing and being part of Medicare Part D. Therefore, either way, private insurers don’t lose (did you really think they would ever position themselves so that they lose money? These are also the companies who backdate options or who retroactively cancel your insurance.)

Medicare--- and therefore every taxpayer-- is taking on the burden of skyrocketing drug costs and its inability to negotiate for lower drug prices is ridiculous (especially since they have to subsidize the insurance and pharmaceutical companies). It’s about time our elected representatives look out for its citizens--- and not the drug companies.

In fact, “democrats have a long list of federal agencies, programs and industries they want to investigate. Many are eager to look into drug prices and marketing practices. They also want to investigate whether Medicare overpays managed care plans, compared with spending for similar beneficiaries in the traditional Medicare program. “

We can’t wait to see what happens!