Medicare

Is the Washington Post actively trying to thwart the First 100 Hours goal to empower Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices?

Today, the Post prints a one-two punch of misleading information.

On the "news" side, we have particularly egregious piece broadly claiming that "experts" don't believe the Democratic Medicare proposal will work like the Veterans Administration drug plan, because it does not create the kind of restrictive list of covered drugs that the VA does.

And over on the oped page, the Post gives free ink to Bush's Health and Human Services Secretary so he can make the same claims.

But nowhere in the Post does it mention what the experts at Families USA say to debunk that claim: the VA list is not that restrictive, as vets can get drugs not on the list. Further, the VA's negotiators have cut prices for drugs its list doesn't cover.

See our earlier post, Good For Vets, Good For Medicare, for more background.

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USA Today reports that the First 100 Hours battle for affordable prescription drugs may come down a few votes in the Senate:

"While Democrats have the votes to pass the bill in the House, it faces a closer battle in the Senate. The Senate Finance Committee opens hearings on the issue Thursday. A weaker version that allowed but did not mandate government negotiations got 54 votes in the Senate last year, six short of the 60 required to overcome Republicans' objections. Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., its sponsors, count 58 or 59 votes this year — still short of what's needed.

"White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Tuesday that Bush's advisers would recommend he veto the House bill."

For now, the focus of Campaign for America's Future is putting grassroots pressure on the House to follow through on its First 100 Hours agenda.

But the battle will soon shift to the Senate, and we will only overcome Big Pharma's bankroll with loud and clear public support. Get ready.

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We're starting to see more slanted media coverage as the battle over prescription drugs heats up.

Part of the First 100 Hours Agenda is to give our government the power to negotiate drug prices on behalf of Medicare recipients, using the collective bargaining power to drive costs down.

Proponents have noted that our Veterans Administration (VA) already has that negotiating power on behalf of vets, and it works. Why not do the same for Medicare?

Big Pharma -- the fat cat pharmaceutical industry -- can't easily oppose cheaper prices, so it's using flimsy arguments claiming that empowering Medicare can't work.

Ominously, in recent days we've seen pieces in the NY Times, LA Times and Washington Post echoing Big Pharma's arguments.

In particular, they charge that the Democratic proposal for Medicare won't work like the VA system. The VA has a restrictive list of the drugs it covers, they say, and it can threaten companies with being taken off the list. And expected Dem legislation won't include making a similar restrictive list for Medicare.

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