Sen. Wyden Says He Has Enough Votes for Measure That Would Permit Federal Government To Negotiate Medicare Medication Prices Directly
WASHINGTON (AP) -An Oregon senator says he has enough votes in the Senate to pass anamendment allowing the government to negotiate Medicare drug pricesdirectly with pharmaceutical companies, a change opposed by PresidentBush and other Republicans as well as the drug industry.
“We’re looking for the right vehicle to get thisimportant provision into law and get some cost containment into theMedicare benefit,” Sen. Ron Wyden [D-Ore.] said at a news conference.
Wyden’s comment came as a new study showed thatpeople who get their drug benefits through the Veterans AffairsDepartment paid about $220 less for a yearlong prescription than thosewho used the government’s Medicare drug card.
The study by Families USA, an advocacy group, saidolder people using the discount cards paid more than they would havepaid through the VA for 49 of the 50 drugs most frequently used bysenior citizens.
Wyden, a Democrat who voted for the 2003 bill, hascome under intense criticism from senior advocates and others whoopposed the bill as far short of the reform needed to make Medicareeffective and affordable. He has vowed to change the law, starting withthe plan to grant bargaining power for drug prices.
Wyden has worked with Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine,to push for government bargaining power for prescription drugs. Anamendment they co-sponsored failed by two votes during Senate budgetdeliberations in March.
Wyden declined to identify the two senators who havechanged their minds, but he repeated several times that he and Snowehad the votes needed to approve the amendment.
The 2003 law specifically bars Medicareadministrators from interfering in any way with negotiations betweenMedicare recipients and hospitals, drug manufacturers, wholesalers orsuppliers.
Even if the measure passes the Senate, it isunlikely to become law. President Bush and Republican leaders in theHouse and Senate oppose the provision, saying it could result inmassive cost shifts to privately insured patients. The pharmaceuticalindustry also opposes the plan.
Ken Johnson, a senior vice president with thePharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said there is noreason to believe that granting the government bargaining power underthe Medicare law would lower drug costs.
“The system was set up so that robust competitionamong private insurance companies would drive prices down,” Johnsonsaid. “More competition equals lower prices. It is simple economics.”
Ed: As noted previously in this blog, the MMA was drafted in part by the pharmaceutical industry, which did not want to allow CMS the authority to negotiate directly for lower prices.