You Didn't Get Kissed First For Your Viagra: Medicare Drug Plan Just Another Way To Pick Americans' Pockets

By Manifesto Joe

I know it's tiresome to keep saying, "I told you so." But when you see people going wrong on first principles, over and over, it's hard not to say so. The latest news about the highly touted Medicare prescription drug plan is a prime example.

If you're old enough, or if you have parents or in-laws who are, you may remember the sales pitch: coverage for everybody 65 or older who signs up, regardless of income or health status; and lower prices through federal negotiations with drug companies.

Well, guess what, Gramps -- you didn't get kissed first for your Viagra. Just like every piecemeal "reform" of the dysfunctional U.S. health-care system, this one turned out to be just one more way for the stockholders and the boardroom boys to pocket more quid. When these bills are written, the lobbyists always seem to work out the right angles.

This in recently from the Washington Post:

"... private insurers in the new Medicare prescription drug program may be losing their leverage over drug manufacturers as they try to hold down medicine costs for seniors and the federal government, House investigators have found.

"Prices for 10 of the most prescribed brand-name medications have gone up an average of 6.8 percent since December under Medicare private insurance plans, while wholesale prices for the same drugs have risen just 3 percent, according to House Oversight and Government Reform investigators. ...

"Premiums for Medicare drug plans have jumped 13 percent over last year, when the drug plans went into effect, the investigators say.

"And the rebates that insurance companies are getting from drug manufacturers are expected to be 4.6 percent of total drug costs, down from 5.2 percent last year. A year ago, Medicare actuaries had expected insurers in 2007 to secure manufacturers' rebates of 6 percent, then pass those savings on to seniors and the government."

It seems like every time U.S. government, at the federal or state level, tries to do some sort of piecemeal "reform" of our "system" like this, we should all check to see if we still have our wallets.

There are so many examples of how patients and taxpayers are ultimately robbed in this system, it's ad infinitum. But permit me one personal anecdote, not related to Medicare.

I have a bad foot, related to a work injury in my youth. I went to a podiatrist to get special shoes to relieve pain, and he gave me specifications to take to an orthotics provider. I didn't have to pay out of pocket for a workers comp prescription, but I was stunned by the cost for the insurer: $600. When I went back to my podiatrist with these ugly, Frankenstein-like shoes, he shook his head and commented, "They always overcharge for these."

I ended up having to jump through a lot of hoops to get those shoes paid for, because of that price. I had to drive to another city for independent medical evaluation, etc. Finally, I got approval.

Well, the shoes sucked. My foot hurt as badly or worse. I would have done as well with $16.99 trash from K-Mart. I ended up buying from a German manufacturer reputed to make shoes as good or better than orthotic companies. Cost out of pocket: $210. They're great -- I'm wearing them right now, as I type. And they don't look like something Boris Karloff playing Frankenstein's monster would wear. ("Friend -- Goooood!)

But, back to Medicare: What is very comparable is that ultimately, somebody pays for this blatant profiteering. And I can guarantee that it isn't the stockholders, the drug companies, the insurers, the hospitals or the doctors. It's us: the patients, insured and uninsured; and of course, the taxpayers.

And, don't think there aren't even more pass-ons, all of them to poor people. In Texas, where I live, Medicaid recipients have started paying co-payments for medications. This is a serious matter for people on very limited fixed incomes. Some can't afford it. But of course, these are people who have absolutely no political power.

And, guess who was governor of this state when these Medicaid cuts were passed? (His current address is 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.)

I eagerly await Michael Moore's new film in hopes that he will blast the cover off this clip joint of a "system." Notice that no other country on the planet is emulating ours. Wonder why?

Manifesto Joe is an underground writer living in Texas.