News in brief - Dec. 12, 2005

Medicare drug prices higher than other options - Drug importation change added to law

Medicare drug prices higher than other options

Drugs that will be available under Medicare on Jan. 1, 2006, will cost significantly more than medications offered by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and certain U.S. and Canadian pharmacies, according to a report sponsored by Democratic lawmakers.

The minority staff of the House Government Reform Committee released the study, which found that the average prices of 10 leading drugs from 10 major drug plans were more than 80% higher than what the VA pays for the same medications. The prices also were more than 60% higher than those available in Canada and about 3% higher than those available at Costco pharmacies and at the online pharmacy Drugstore.com.

Democrats on the committee pointed to the results as evidence that the government should be permitted to negotiate directly with drug companies to obtain lower prices.

A Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services spokesman decried the report as misleading, saying that the researchers did not examine all of the drug plan options available to seniors.

Drug importation change added to law

President Bush recently approved legislation that includes language aimed at preventing further U.S. restrictions on prescription drug importation, but the White House said that the provision is not binding.

Bush signed into law the spending bill to fund the Commerce, Justice and State departments for fiscal year 2006 after lawmakers inserted the section dealing with drug importation. The provision states that the U.S. trade representative's office cannot design trade agreements during the year that prohibit such importation from taking place.

The White House released a statement, however, noting that that section of the bill deals with an executive power and can thus serve in only an advisory function to the president.