[Source: Health and Life Sciences Law Daily, November 2, 2007]
HealthDay (11/2, Preidt) reports, "In 2006, introduction of the U.S. Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit increased the number of seniors' prescriptions by 158 million, at a cost of $32 billion to Medicare," according to a study published in the November/December issue of the journal Health Affairs. Co-author Frank Lichtenberg, a business professor at Columbia University, and colleagues "analyzed data on 584 million prescriptions filled at the Walgreens pharmacy chain from September 2004 to December 2006." After including "the increased number of prescriptions that followed the introduction of Medicare Part D," the researchers found "that the amount paid by patients decreased only 5.6 percent, while the amount paid by private insurers increased by 22.3 percent." In addition, the data indicated that "Medicare spent about $203 for each additional prescription for the elderly, about 3.5 times as much as the average price ($57) for a prescription in 2006." The researchers concluded that "we need to think carefully about the economic implications of this program, which the federal government will ultimately have to raise taxes to pay for," particularly since Medicare Part D is expected to cost "$797 billion by 2015."
