Talk of The Villages Florida - Should Medicare be allowed to negotiate drug prices?

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Should Medicare be allowed to negotiate drug prices?

Seeing a new add sponsored by PhRMA stating that allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices will reduce availability of drugs. I think that might be a fib but wonder what others think. I know drug prices are very high for many Tier 4 and 5 drugs when on Medicare.

S.99 - Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act
116th Congress (2019-2020)

Not likely....too big....too influential.....too much $$$$....

It is disgraceful that big pharma lobbyists are able to buy enough people in DC to make us pay the highest drug prices in the world.

Not on Medicare yet.

Something needs to be done about pricing. Doctor presribed two heart medcines to me one of which is Eliquis(can not miss their TV adds) and three months supply was $1300. Could buy it through Canada at 1/3 the cost, but had to be ordered. Shopped around and all regular US pharmacies were very close in price. Was told by my insuror that I had to pay full price since I did not match my deductible

Another drug was $1800 for 3 months. Canadian price is 1/3 of that cost. Pharmacist at Publix gave me information on coupons and saved at least 50%. Now some of us(under 65) need to clip coupons to get reasonalbe priced prescriptions.

Have always said insurance is good until you become sick.

I find it amusing that the Government is the reason on for high prices, and now people want the Government to reduce the prices.

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiredguy123 (Post 2001976)

I find it amusing that the Government is the reason on for high prices, and now people want the Government to reduce the prices.

For $ 50,000 we can buy our own Congressional rep for one 2 year term and for 100,000 for life. What can we expect when the people who supposedly work for us are bought and paid for by lobbyists.

And we stupidly keep reelecting the same people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC (Post 2002038)

If there is any issue we should pay attention to regarding who votes which way this is one. You can follow those things and let your congressional representatives know you are and how you feel about it. Our form of government does require an educated public. I just don't know if in fact this would reduce availability of drugs like Eliquis. I have used a Canadian pharmacy for the first time in my life for this drug and
another called Jublia, both of which are ridiculously expensive if you're on Medicare and in the donut whole.

Quote:

Originally Posted by heims01 (Post 2002047)

Another reason to do this is that Medicare is going to run out of money in a couple of years. Reduce drug cost and medicare can stay solvent longer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by heims01 (Post 2002047)

If there is any issue we should pay attention to regarding who votes which way this is one. You can follow those things and let your congressional representatives know you are and how you feel about it. Our form of government does require an educated public. I just don't know if in fact this would reduce availability of drugs like Eliquis. I have used a Canadian pharmacy for the first time in my life for this drug and another called Jublia, both of which are ridiculously expensive if you're on Medicare and in the donut whole.

You may be making a potentially costly mistake. While you are in what used to be called the donut hole you do NOT pay the retail cost of the medication. Rather:

Quote:

"Once you reach the coverage gap, you'll pay no more than 25% of the cost for your plan's covered brand-name prescription drugs. You'll pay this discounted rate if you buy your prescriptions at a pharmacy or order them through the mail. Some plans may offer you even lower costs in the coverage gap. The discount will come off of the price that your plan has set with the pharmacy for that specific drug.

Although you'll pay no more than 25% of the price for the brand-name drug, almost the full price of the drug will count as out-of-pocket costs to help you get out of the coverage gap."

For Eliquis, the retail cost of 3 months is about 1500. But you will only pay 25% or 375. That is likely not much different than your Canadian cost. Purchases via a Canadian pharmacy, thus outside your Medicare plan, also do not count toward getting out of the coverage gap. For that 1500 Eliquis, 1425 would be applied to your getting out (95%)

You need to look at not just the cost of the medication but the overall result of paying your 25% on the big picture. I might also add that Jublia is a not covered medication in some Medicare plans as it has a very low complete cure rate, only about 10 to 15% better than placebo when using it every day for an entire year on nails where only a maximum of 50% of the nail was involved, the easier cases to cure. [see also table 2 in the link from the package insert] It did slightly better [additional 5%] if you define cure as mostly better. So if you are self paying, you may want to balance the cost against the likelihood of benefit. Photo from the manufacturer's website:

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueash (Post 2002105)

You may be making a potentially costly mistake. While you are in what used to be called the donut hole you do NOT pay the retail cost of the medication. Rather:

For Eliquis, the retail cost of 3 months is about 1500. But you will only pay 25% or 375. That is likely not much different than your Canadian cost. Purchases via a Canadian pharmacy, thus outside your Medicare plan, also do not count toward getting out of the coverage gap. For that 1500 Eliquis, 1425 would be applied to your getting out (95%)

You need to look at not just the cost of the medication but the overall result of paying your 25% on the big picture. I might also add that Jublia is a not covered medication in some Medicare plans as it has a very low complete cure rate, only about 10 to 15% better than placebo when using it every day for an entire year on nails where only a maximum of 50% of the nail was involved, the easier cases to cure. [see also table 2 in the link from the package insert] It did slightly better [additional 5%] if you define cure as mostly better. So if you are self paying, you may want to balance the cost against the likelihood of benefit. Photo from the manufacturer's website:

Canadian cost was $163 for 168 tablets, slightly less than a 90 day supply of 180. I think I will save some money using the Canadian Pharmacy. Let's just shed some light on these drug pricing practices. It seems the issue is as convoluted as they come by BIG PHARMA.

OP, Can you ask your doctor if there is a less expensive, but as effective, alternative?

Quote:

Originally Posted by heims01 (Post 2002109)

It's not convoluted to me. The drug companies are ripping off the taxpayers to make a lot of money. It seems pretty simple.

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiredguy123 (Post 2002158)

It's not convoluted to me. The drug companies are ripping off the taxpayers to make a lot of money. It seems pretty simple.

So you don't think it would help if Medicare started negotiating what they can charge? Why is a drug like Eliquis available for so much less in other countries?

I support Medicare being allowed to negotiate prices. But the proposals being suggested which despite overwhelming public support, may still not have enough Congressional support are weak tea. They are only suggesting negotiating for a very narrow number of medications.

I did try to find out my Senator's opinions on Medicare negotiating drug costs.

I will remove the names to avoid the prohibition about political postings

From 2016 [last time I can find something from this Senator]

Quote:

[redacted], who received $221,000 in campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, says Medicare isn't the answer. He says the issue is the Federal Drug Administration needs to approve drugs quicker, leading to more competition and lower prices.

We asked [redacted] how much he is influenced by the contributions from the industry, which put him in the top 10 in the Senate and he said. ”None, because people buy into my agenda. I don't buy into theirs.”

I cannot find a statement from my other Senator on Medicare negotiating drug prices. There must be one as this is a very commonly discussed topic in Florida. His opposition when he ran did in one of their releases say that candidate [redacted] opposed allowing Medicare negotiations but no link to that position.