One Plan to Lower Prescription Drug Prices
Prescription drug prices have been a hot topic in the media lately, and for good reason. At the moment, pharmaceutical companies are able to set exorbitant prices on their product because of the way Medicare is set up to deal with the companies. Medicare is not allowed to negotiate prices with these companies, and as a result end up paying on average 83% of the listed price for medications. This is more than double what Medicaid and the Veteran Health Administration pays for the same drugs. One proposed solution is to allow Medicare to negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies. Other countries in which the government can negotiate prices pay as much as one fourth of what Medicare pays for the same medication in the United States. Tami Luhby spells out more on this subject with CNN Money.