Drug Prices: What The White House Won't Tell Us

A few months ago, Bush's Medicare officials claimed private insurers were getting pharmaceutical companies to lower prices, but when Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif, and Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., asked for the proof, the administration wouldn't cough up the data [1].

So, Waxman's committee did its own study. Guess what? From the Washington Post [2] (via MyDD [3]):

Prices for 10 of the most prescribed brand-name medications have shot up an average of 6.8 percent since December under Medicare private insurance plans, while wholesale prices for the same drugs have risen just 3 percent...

Who could have guessed? Privatize the prescription drug program, private companies put their own bottom lines ahead of providing affordable medications.

The W. Post notes that Waxman is planning more hearings as he tries to "revive legislation to grant the federal government the power to negotiate drug prices for Medicare," which was blocked by a drug lobby-backed conservative filibuster in the Senate. [4]

Hopefully, as more information gets out, the battle can be rejoined.