医疗保险首席官为布什的处方折扣计划辩护(上)
WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - The Bush Administration's Medicare director today defended the White House's new discount drug program for seniors and also reinforced the president's warning that he will not allow a permanent prescription drug benefit to become part of Medicare without broader reforms to the program.
Speaking at a forum on Capitol Hill, federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator Thomas A. Scully responded to early critics of the discount plan who argued that the president may have oversold its usefulness when he announced it on Thursday at the White House.
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Administration officials plan to provide the discounts by letting private pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) buy drugs in bulk and then issue discount cards bearing the Medicare logo to seniors. One of the way PBMs cut costs is by favoring some drugs over other similar, competing drugs or by restricting access to some drugs altogether on company formularies.
Officials said yesterday that they expect the program to garner discounts of 15% to 25% for most drugs after seniors pay a one-time fee of up to $25 to join the plan. Executives from leading PBMs said that they would offer seniors the choice of multiple plans with varying amounts of restrictions.
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But with many seniors taking multiple medications simultaneously, it is likely that most PBM formularies will offer discounts on only some of the drugs each senior takes. Elderly could be left to choose between a host of differing plans and may get discounts on only a few of their needed drugs, said Marilyn Moon, a healthcare policy expert at the Urban Institute and a former Medicare trustee.
"It's going to be difficult for any single prescription plan to have all of those [drugs] on a formulary and my concern is how seniors are going to figure this out," Moon said at a Capitol Hill briefing sponsored by the Alliance for Health Care Reform.
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Moon also argued that PBMs could only achieve 20% discounts at pharmacies by significantly restricting formularies to rule out discounts for many drugs popular with seniors. "They may get a 20% discount on one drug, but I don't believe you're going to get a 20% discount across the board if you're taking multiple drugs," she said.
Scully argued that partial discounts are an advantage for seniors, many of whom wind up paying full retail for medication since Medicare lacks a prescription drug benefit.
"Every discount they get is good news for them," he said. "I absolutely see no downside to starting now.", 百拇医药
Speaking at a forum on Capitol Hill, federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator Thomas A. Scully responded to early critics of the discount plan who argued that the president may have oversold its usefulness when he announced it on Thursday at the White House.
, 百拇医药
Administration officials plan to provide the discounts by letting private pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) buy drugs in bulk and then issue discount cards bearing the Medicare logo to seniors. One of the way PBMs cut costs is by favoring some drugs over other similar, competing drugs or by restricting access to some drugs altogether on company formularies.
Officials said yesterday that they expect the program to garner discounts of 15% to 25% for most drugs after seniors pay a one-time fee of up to $25 to join the plan. Executives from leading PBMs said that they would offer seniors the choice of multiple plans with varying amounts of restrictions.
, 百拇医药
But with many seniors taking multiple medications simultaneously, it is likely that most PBM formularies will offer discounts on only some of the drugs each senior takes. Elderly could be left to choose between a host of differing plans and may get discounts on only a few of their needed drugs, said Marilyn Moon, a healthcare policy expert at the Urban Institute and a former Medicare trustee.
"It's going to be difficult for any single prescription plan to have all of those [drugs] on a formulary and my concern is how seniors are going to figure this out," Moon said at a Capitol Hill briefing sponsored by the Alliance for Health Care Reform.
, 百拇医药
Moon also argued that PBMs could only achieve 20% discounts at pharmacies by significantly restricting formularies to rule out discounts for many drugs popular with seniors. "They may get a 20% discount on one drug, but I don't believe you're going to get a 20% discount across the board if you're taking multiple drugs," she said.
Scully argued that partial discounts are an advantage for seniors, many of whom wind up paying full retail for medication since Medicare lacks a prescription drug benefit.
"Every discount they get is good news for them," he said. "I absolutely see no downside to starting now.", 百拇医药