American Crossroads Attacks Harry Reid For Not Bringing Nevada Enough Stimulus

In 2003, PhRMA lobbied hard & got Congress to insert language into the bill that created a Medicare drug benefit that prohibits Medicare from using its market clout to negotiate with manufacturers for lower drug prices & making sure the drug benefit was only available through private insurance plans.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-07-06-medicare-drug_x.htm



The result?

Medicare members can only get drug coverage by joining a private insurance plan. People who have both Medicare and Medicaid (dual-eligibles) were switched from Medicaid prescription drug coverage to a private Medicare drug plan. Prescription drugs for this population cost 30% more under the new private Medicare drug plans than they did under Medicaid, increasing pharmaceutical companies' profits by at least $3.7 billion dollars in just the first two years of the program. For example, Bristol Myers earned a windfall of almost $400 million, thanks to higher prices for the stroke medication Plavix.

http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2115
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