In 2003, President George Bush and the Republican Congress created Medicare Part D. It provides prescription drug coverage for senior citizens on Medicare at government expense.
There was one little catch.
The drug company lobbyists slipped a provision into the law that made it illegal for the United States government to negotiate the prices of the prescription drugs Medicare pays for.
The Veterans Administration is allowed to negotiate drug prices for veterans. The Department of Defense is allowed to negotiate drug prices for our men and women in uniform. Even the Bureau of Prisons is allowed to negotiate drug prices for inmates.
But Medicare is not allowed to negotiate drug prices for our senior citizens.
How much money does that take out of the hands of seniors and put into the pockets of drug companies?
According to a 2008 Harvard Medical School study, not allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices costs an extra $21 billion every year.
That’s $57,534,246.58 every single day, around $500 a year for every American over the age of 65.
So how do we save America’s senior citizens $57 million a day?
It’s simple. We will change the law and let Medicare negotiate drug prices like many other government agencies do.
The drug company lobbyists created a giant corporate welfare program for themselves in the middle of the night, when nobody was looking. They took the money from our seniors.
We want our money back, and we’re going to get it.
This is the 2nd of 52 ideas, one per week for the entire campaign. Send us your ideas, too. Nothing is too big or too small. If the ideas are good ones, we’ll put them on the list. We can make things better, one thing at a time. Send your ideas to: chad@chadmcgowan.com
There was one little catch.
The drug company lobbyists slipped a provision into the law that made it illegal for the United States government to negotiate the prices of the prescription drugs Medicare pays for.
The Veterans Administration is allowed to negotiate drug prices for veterans. The Department of Defense is allowed to negotiate drug prices for our men and women in uniform. Even the Bureau of Prisons is allowed to negotiate drug prices for inmates.
But Medicare is not allowed to negotiate drug prices for our senior citizens.
How much money does that take out of the hands of seniors and put into the pockets of drug companies?
According to a 2008 Harvard Medical School study, not allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices costs an extra $21 billion every year.
That’s $57,534,246.58 every single day, around $500 a year for every American over the age of 65.
So how do we save America’s senior citizens $57 million a day?
It’s simple. We will change the law and let Medicare negotiate drug prices like many other government agencies do.
The drug company lobbyists created a giant corporate welfare program for themselves in the middle of the night, when nobody was looking. They took the money from our seniors.
We want our money back, and we’re going to get it.
This is the 2nd of 52 ideas, one per week for the entire campaign. Send us your ideas, too. Nothing is too big or too small. If the ideas are good ones, we’ll put them on the list. We can make things better, one thing at a time. Send your ideas to: chad@chadmcgowan.com
