Raising Medicare entry age? Why not cost controls on MEDS in medicare? We STILL don't have!

[SugarShack]

Dems tried to get this in their budget, when they cut 1/2 trillion out of Medicare. But repbubs would not go along. Should this not be looked at first?

Why does my Mother STILL get some of her meds from Canada????

This will bring the costs down.

Note to Obama:

I, do not have a five minute memory. Until this is done....NO MORE CUTS!

COST CONTROLS ON MEDS NOW!

Kick for cost controls for meds in Medicare NOW!

[KamaAina]

1. Hush! You're threatening Big Pharma's fat profit margins!

:spank:

[SugarShack]

2. Ha ha...right...now please kick to keep this up!

[SugarShack]

3. I have not heard ONE word about cost control in Medicare, no wonder it's going broke!

Big Pharma must loooove Obama...

[hedgehog]

4. I expect the cost for meds to start dropping precipitously.

There are a lot of very effective drugs for depression, hypertension, cholesterol control, asthma, etc that have gone generic or soon will. I've seen my monthly cost for some drugs drop from $60 to $1.59!

[Igel]

13. There'll be new ones.

With MRSA and other antibiotic resistant strains undermining the effectiveness of existing antibiotics, some of the more exotic antibiotics are becoming more common (and are still under patent). Then there's the push to find new ones, a push that won't be cheap so that the resulting antibiotics won't be cheap.

And if they ever find something better than donepezil for Alzheimer's and other kinds of dementia, look out. What with probable advances in diagnosing very early Alzheimer's that would chew up Medicare Part D like nothing you've ever seen.

[somone]

5. "Obama will repeal the ban on direct negotiation with drug companies"

But that was then.

"First, we'll take on the drug and insurance companies and hold them accountable for the prices they charge and the harm they cause... And then we'll tell the pharmaceutical companies, 'Thanks but no thanks for overpriced drugs'. Drugs that cost twice as much here as they do in Europe and Canada and Mexico. We'll let Medicare negotiate for lower prices. We'll stop drug companies from blocking generic drugs that are just as effective and far less expensive. We'll allow the safe reimportation of low-cost drugs from countries like Canada."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/09/flashback-obama-promises_n_254833.html

[SugarShack]

7. Time to remind Obama he said this...he seems to always forget!

[FreakinDJ]

8. makes too much sense

[Fuddnik]

6. Part D was DESIGNED to break Medicare.

No price negotiations. The "donut hole" was a diversion to get people talking about something else.

And they pay for things that look ridiculous to me. My father gets shoes and socks for diabetics. He's borderline. He says Medicare paid for them. I asked him "What do they do?" He says "I don't know", but Medicare paid for them.

And they don't even attempt to investigate fraud. He spent a night in the hospital last year, and they billed Medicare for 2 days (he went to the ER right before midnight, was out before noon), and billed for all kinds of tests they never ran (One of Rick Scott's former joints). He called up to report them, and they didn't even ask any questions.

There's a lot to do to control costs and improve care with the same money. Like single payer for all.

[jwirr]

9. I don't think you gain much from raising the medicare age. If you are

disabled and cannot work then you are eligible for Medicaid until you are accepted on Medicare. Thus it is government tax money either way you look at it. What is their point?

[Bluenorthwest]

12. That depends on income and and holdings

It is far from instantly true that if you get Medicare if you are not Medicaid eligble and you are disabled. Far from it.

[slipslidingaway]

10. knr ...

except this was given away in support of the HC bill.

:(

[LiberalAndProud]

11. We need the ability to negotiate price with big pharma.

How is it that it wasn't a part of the deal? Oh, yea.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/us/08lobby.html

Somebody has some powerful friends, and that somebody isn't the average taxpayer.