Senators Offer Budget Amendment that Would Direct HHS To Negotiate Drug Prices for Medicare Beneficiaries
Sens. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) have introduced a measure that would order HHS to bargain directly with pharmaceutical companies to "force down" the cost of drugs for Medicare beneficiaries, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Wellstone said that the plan, offered as an amendment to the Senate's fiscal year 2003 budget resolution, would not cost the federal government any money. It is modeled after a Department of Veterans Affairs program that uses veterans' "combined purchasing power" to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices. Wellstone said that if the amendment is voted down, he may try to attach the plan to any Medicare drug benefit plan that comes before the Senate (von Sternberg, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 3/27).
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