Medicare D bill would require comparative efficacy studies

A bill expected to go to the Senate floor this week would seek to beginchanging that by having the government compare major kinds ofmedications and treatments provided to more than 43 million Medicarerecipients to see how well they work.  The legislation faces an uphill battle because it would also lift theprohibition against the government negotiating lower drug prices forseniors in the Medicare prescription program — a change that PresidentBush has threatened to veto.  Yetthe little-noticed consumer information provisions of the Senate billcould transform the market behavior of millions of patients — withpotentially greater cost savings for seniors and taxpayers than merelygranting bargaining power to Medicare bureaucrats.  “The stuff oncomparative effectiveness is certainly important, and maybe even moreimportant than negotiating authority,” said William Vaughan, a seniorpolicy analyst with Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports.”Ninety-nine percent of us respond the same way to different kinds ofpills. When we know the facts, we will buy the stuff that works.”  The comparison studies are just one way in which the Senate billdiffers from a version passed in the House as part of the Democraticmajority’s initial agenda.

Source:  LA Times

Just how nervous are the drug companies about this bill?  Check out the full page ad in today’s major newspapers, such as the one in today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune, and you’ll get a sense.