WP: Uninsured Pay More For Prescription Drugs, Report Says

[Nambe]

The Washington Post

Uninsured consumers, including millions of seniors without prescription drug coverage, pay an average of 72 percent more than the federal government for medications, according to a survey issued yesterday by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Among the highest were prices paid by uninsured people in Baltimore, the District of Columbia, and Northern Virginia.

The report adds ammunition to liberal criticism that the Medicare drug bills now moving through Congress fail to address the problem of rising pharmaceutical costs.

"When the 41 million uninsured Americans go it alone at the drug store, they pay the price -- sometimes more than double what government agencies pay," said Edmund Mierzwinski, consumer program director for U.S. PIRG.

Last month, the House and Senate passed legislation to add drug coverage beginning in 2006 under Medicare, the federal health insurance program for 40 million senior and disabled Americans, at a cost of $400 billion over a decade. ---

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