We've written about Democrats' intention to address the Medicare drug benefit legislation prohibiting the feds from seeking better drug deals.
But the New York Times published a piece this week quoting administration officials saying they would not budge on the issue.
Health & Human Services secretary Michael Leavitt told the Times he did not want the power to negotiate drug prices. “I don’t believe I can do a better job than an efficient market,” he said.
“We are seeing large-scale negotiations with drug manufacturers, but they are conducted by private drug plans, not by the government,” Mr. Leavitt said. “A robust marketplace with a lot of competitors has driven down prices. It’s the magic of the market. To assume that the government, in our genius, could improve on this belies the reality of a complex task.”
To continue on the current course belies the reality that the U.S. is one of the few "super powers" that does not have its government negotiate drug prices. And there are many American consumers who are not entranced by the "magic of the market" that Leavitt levitates about.
Posted by schwitz at November 16, 2006 08:09 AM | TrackBack