US Democrats' Part D reform plan "lacks clout"

The much-anticipated Medicare Part D reform proposals by the new Democrat majority in both Houses of the US Congress (Marketletters passim) have been met by accusations that they lack muscle and are less effective at reducing costs than existing mechanisms. The two-page draft bill (HR 4) requires "negotiations" between the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the drug industry to reduce prices for the prescription drug plan, but rules out the sanctions available to other negotiators: removal of drugs from the formulary.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Quarterly reports that the Democrat Leader in the Senate, Harry Reid (Nevada), "has introduced a placeholder bill (S 3) that is intended only to show that Democrats want to 'provide for fair prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries'."

Supporters of the reform have quoted an opinion poll commissioned by the Kaiser Foundation late last year, which found that 85% of Americans supported legislation to force the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices with drug companies. However, this popular support is extremely fragile, according to Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, a US think-tank specializing in health care legislation. Writing in the Houston Chronicle, Ms Turner quoted research by Dutko Research to note that "support drops to 30% when people learn that government negotiation would mean that they could choose from only a limited list of government-approved drugs."