The House Part D Drug Negoatiation Debate is Heating Up!

I was quoted in the Washington Post today reiterating my concern that the House Part D drug negoatiation bill is a hollow political charade on the part of the Dems:

"The federal government can get lower prices, but only if it's willing to exclude a certain number of drugs from the formulary," said Robert Laszewski, a nonpartisan health policy consultant in Washington. "And that's a huge political leap that I would be very surprised if this Congress took. I don't think they are going to give CMS any teeth."

Even former CMS head, Mark McClellan, no enemy of the drug industry, sees it falling way short of what the Veterans Administration is able to do to control their drug costs:

"It's apples to oranges," former CMS administrator Mark B. McClellan said of the comparison. "The VA is a closed health-care system relying on mail order and a tighter formulary than Medicare beneficiaries have shown they prefer."

You can see the full story--which is very well done and balanced--in today's Washington Post (link at top of post).

I also had two more comprenhensive posts on the issue that you can read below (January 8th).