Democrats vs. Bush on Medicare drug plans
By LEE BOWMAN
Scripps Howard News Service
February 20, 2004
- The new Medicare prescription drug law specifically bars the federal government from negotiating lower drug prices for seniors, relying instead on private drug plans to strike deals with pharmaceutical companies for the drugs they will provide to seniors.
It is a "noninterference clause" that President Bush supports, arguing along with most Republicans that private competition will do a better job of holding down drug costs to Medicare than government "price fixing."
"I think we've got it right in the bill language we have," Senate Republican leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said on banning the federal government from negotiating bulk purchases. "Competition is better over time than price fixing."
But Democrats - including presidential contenders -are making pointed arguments that the government needs to use the bargaining power of 41 million Medicare beneficiaries to make drug benefits affordable...(Full Story)
A personal quest to promote the use of wind energy and hydrogen technology in the Great Lakes area of the United States. The Great Lakes area is in a unique position to become an energy exporting region through these and other renewable energy technologies. *Update 2014: Just do it everywhere - Dan*
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