skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Minnesota Poll: Allow Medicare to Bargain for Better Drug Prices

play audio
Play

Wednesday, February 28, 2007   


A new survey finds over 90 percent of Minnesotans want to allow Medicare to use its bargaining power to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. AARP Minnesota spokeswoman Michele Kimball says there is strong support for allowing the federal Medicare program to deal with drug companies for discount prices.

"The typical senior takes four prescriptions a day. And, drug prices are still really too high. What this results in is eroding savings, choices that people have to make between food, paying the electric bill, higher rents, or their prescription drugs. And, what we find is that many people either forgo taking their prescriptions on time or they cut their pills in half. It really is a problem, especially for the lower-income senior."

Kimball believes using the leverage of 43 million Medicare consumers nationally would help lower drug prices and strengthen the plan's benefits. But, Congress has prohibited bulk negotiations in the past, and the Bush administration is against it, saying it might actually increase prices. They believe the plan would short-change drug companies and lead to cuts in research and development. But advocates say negotiating prices would be an incentive for them to try harder to compete for Medicare dollars. Kimball thinks the change would help government better represent those on Medicare.

"It will allow the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate directly with prescription drug companies for lower bulk rates for prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries. Very much the same way that the Veterans Administration negotiates with prescription drug companies for lower rates."

A bill for drug price negotiations, HR4, has passed the House. The pending Senate bill is SF3.

You can see the AARP poll results online at www.aarp.org/mn.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021