Houston Chronicle by Sandip Shah Nov. 7, 2019
Proposed changes to Medicare Part D would cripple medical progress [Opinion]
Forty-five million Americans depend on Medicare’s “Part D†drug benefit. The government doesn’t provide Part D coverage directly. Instead, it allows beneficiaries to enroll in drug plans sold by private insurers. Private insurers push for competitive pricing from manufacturers, and for most cases, pass some of the savings to patients, while the rest goes to pharmacy benefit managers. The government subsidizes and regulates these plans. This allows seniors to choose the plan that best fits their medical needs while driving out inefficiencies.
Congress wants to change who pays for medicines in the catastrophic phase. Two separate bills in the House and Senate would eliminate patient cost-sharing in that final phase — which is great news. If lawmakers had stopped there, patients would have good reason to celebrate the reform.
Unfortunately, that’s not the only adjustment Congress has in mind. The House plan would require drug manufacturers to cover 30 percent of the cost of their own medicines. It’d require Medicare to pay just 20 percent of catastrophic phase expenses. Insurers would pick up the remaining 50 percent.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Proposed-changes-to-Medicare-Part-D-would-cripple-14815106.php
