Senate Dems push for Medicare drug savings

During a hearing this week, Senate Democrats, including Aging Committee Chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis., advanced the causes of certain policies to control drug costs and reduce deficit spending.

Modern Healthcare: Senate Dems Continue Push To Curb Medicare Drug Costs
Senate Democrats used a hearing on Medicare drug policy to add to the drumbeat calling for cuts to Medicare drug spending as part of any deficit-reduction deal. "In 2010, Americans spent more than $300 billion on prescription drugs and a third of that was paid for by Medicare or Medicaid," Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), chairman of the Special Aging Committee, said at the panel's Thursday hearing. "Left unchecked, these costs threaten our country, our economy and every American family" (Daly, 7/21).

CQ HealthBeat: Kohl Presses For Drug Savings
Senate Aging Committee Chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis., held a hearing Thursday to outline nine different policies for controlling drug costs and reducing deficit spending. The hearing came on a day when one of the nine proposals, a bill to prevent agreements between brand-name and generic drug companies that would delay the introduction of the lower-cost drugs, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Kohl said Americans spent $300 billion last year on prescription drugs, with Medicare and Medicaid picking up one-third of the tab. Under current policy, "experts predict that drug costs will nearly double in the U.S. over the next 10 years," he said (7/21).