Charging what the market will bear
Drugs Prices Outpace Medicare Discounts
Summary: The AARP (American Association for Retired Persons) has issued a report indicating that manufacturers' prices for prescription drugs rose 3.4% during the first quarter of 2004. That is nearly 3 times the rate of inflation. Significantly, these drug price increases came AFTER the Medicare prescription drug benefit was signed into law and before the consumer could benefit from using the Medicare discount cards.
Comment: It is small comfort that a pharmaceutical industry spokesman, commenting on the AARP report, said that hospital costs rose by a much higher percentage than the costs of prescription drugs.
Barbara K. Hecht, Ph.D.
Frederick Hecht, M.D.
Medical Editors, MedicineNet.com
Posted by Prometheus 6 on July 2, 2004 - 7:11pm :: Health
