White House says deals struck to cut prices of popular Medicare drugs that cost $50 billion yearly

AlexB23 said:

How come the Europeans have had cheap medicines for decades? It seems that the both Dems and the far-right are one in the same. Both stall actual solutions to problems, while other countries get stuff done.

Also, you might want to quote an article here, as articles are required in this subforum for OP posts.

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Arcangl86 said:

Because the Medicare didn't have the legal authority to do so until just under 2 years ago.

Because Medicare didn't include drug coverage when he was elected to the Senate. Part D was created in 2003, and that same law banned Medicare from negotiating drug prices. Medicare Part D was officially established in 2006 and pretty much as soon at the 110th Congress commenced the Senate introduced a bill to allow for negotiations. Oh, and there was also the coverage gap which was closed by the Affordable Care Act, which Biden helped push in his role as VP. So Biden has been concerned about this issue for a long time.

Or because complex negotiations take time. I mean he managed to get it done in less then two years after he was given authority to do so. That's pretty impressive IMO. I do agree that VP Harris will be able to ride this pretty heavily considering she's the reason the bill passed in the first place.

I'm not sure what you are saying here. These prices were all negotiated, which means that the drug companies have agreed to them. NOw I'm sure they are not making as much of a profit on them as they want, but they also aren't going to agree to a price that puts them in the hole. As long as they are making money off of them, there is no reason for them to reduce production.

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JosephZ said:

The Republicans wouldn't allow it.

The Obama administration said on Monday it would seek authority to negotiate prices for high-cost drugs under the government's Medicare Part D program, which offers private drug coverage for senior citizens and the disabled... But the plan would require the administration to get a green light from Congress, where Republicans who control the House of Representatives and Senate have openly favored market forces over government intervention as a vehicle for containing healthcare costs.

https://www.reuters.com/article/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/obama-administration-seeks-to-negotiate-medicare-drug-prices-idUSKBN0L61OV/

President Biden voted yes in an effort to pass the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007 when he was a senator.


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