Finders Keepers Loosers Weepers or How I Didn't Get Drug Coverage

This is the post I had intended to write yesterday. I want to comment on a program that this administration has touted as the answer to the Medicare prescription drug problem. I won’t even go into the fact that the cost of the program was, shall we say, not presented to the Congress and the American people in a forth right manner. (Shock and Amazement) In other words they lied about the cost up front. The Medicare Prescription Drug program goes into effect this month and millions of senior will be making up their minds about which one to sign up for. Now you need to know there are 20 +/- programs. Notice the (+/-) because that’s about as accurate as any of the information on these programs gets. It’s so convoluted that news reports don’t even give the exact number. Another interesting thing about these programs is that they are all different, provided through different companies and accepted by different pharmacies, and they even cover a multitude of different drugs. They are so convoluted that in one news report an engineer was being interviewed and his comment was, “I’m and engineer and I’m use to complicated things but this is beyond me”. That should be a little disturbing by itself don’t you think. There are several other serious issues with this program in addition to the burdensome complexity and ridiculous costs that lines the pockets of giant pharmaceutical companies. Let’s look at a few of these issues one by one.

First there are 20 +/- programs. I realize that the elderly are mostly retired or at least semi-retired if they don’t want to eat cat food but just how many have the time or patience to review 20 +/- complex programs in order to pick the best and most cost effective one. That’s a valid question if for no other reason than the fact that when the average working person’s employer provides a drug program (fat chance) your choice might normally be one or two programs for which the company has negotiated the best possible price. So one must ask the question, why is the federal government offering 20 +/- programs and not allowing Medicare to negotiate the best price possible? Secondly if an engineer has trouble understanding the program, how is the average high school educated person to understand it? I am not being condescending or demeaning to the average elderly person with a high school diploma. But if each of these programs cost are different, and each program is accepted by different pharmacies, and each program covers different drugs, the possibilities become astronomical and it would be virtually impossible to select ‘the’ best, correct one. In fact the odds are that you will not select the best program that will give you the drugs you need for the best price possible price.

The simple truth is that the Bush administration along with the pharmaceutical industry have gotten just what they wanted which is more programs. They got this because it dilutes the ability of any one program to negotiate the best price and exerting a downward pressure on the drug market. What further amazes me is that the AARP, after taking tremendous heat over supporting this misguided program in the beginning is still supporting it. NO ladies and gentlemen it is not the first best step forward and is actually a step backward. The reality is that if Medicare was allowed to manage the drug program themselves they could negotiate the prices with pharmaceutical companies and they would be a huge single power in the market capable of bringing the cost of drugs down. That is the reality that the Bush administration wants you to NOT believe.


Those are The Sergeant Majors thoughts on that.