Medicare Part D enables people to obtain drugs, the cost of which is subsidized by us. One problem is that Medicare does not seem concerned that some doctors prescribe name-brand drugs when generics could do as good a job. ProPublica estimates that "Just 913 internists, family medicine and general practice physicians cost taxpayers an extra $300 million in 2011 alone by disproportionately choosing name-brand drugs. These doctors each wrote at least 5,000 prescriptions that year, including refills, and ranked among the program’s most prolific prescribers." Half of these doctors 'consult' to pharmaceuticasl companies.
Part D also subsidizes the drugs of low-income patients. This often results in these patients having no incentive to buy generics, which often cost a mere fraction of a name-brand drug. This subsidy represented one-third of the money spent on Part D last year.
So, who in our Congress is watching the store?
No comments:
Post a Comment