Desperate to Diminish “D”
June 16, 201110:26 am
There is a concerted effort taking place right now among pundits and bloggers on the left to demonstrate that the success of the Medicare Part D prescription drug program is an illusion. Contrary to conventional wisdom, they say, consumer choice and market competition have little or nothing to do with the cost savings the program has achieved.
So, why is this line of argument taking place right now? The next open season for Medicare Part D beneficiaries is still months away and, consequently, this program is usually not on Washington’s radar screens during the summer months.
In fact, the struggle to define the success of Part D is really all about the political battle over Medicare reform. You see, those who advocate moving toward a Medicare premium support model, one in which beneficiaries would have the opportunity to choose from a menu of private health plans, regularly cite the cost-effectiveness of Medicare’s prescription drug program to make their case. After all, by 2013, the exceedingly popular Part D program will still have costs 32 percent less than the Congressional Budget Office originally estimated.
It’s a pretty compelling case for choice and competition. Therefore, those who want to stop any movement toward a premium support model have to first destroy the Part D storyline.
So, in May, the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities issued a paper saying that it’s not competition between private plans driving Part D savings. Instead, fewer beneficiaries than expected had enrolled in the Part D program, resulting in lower costs. And on top of that, there was a decline in growth for pharmaceutical sales throughout the healthcare system, and Part D was a fortunate beneficiary of this trend. Not surprisingly, liberal pundits picked up this baton and ran with it.
This week, though, Joe Antos of the American Enterprise Institute dug a little deeper into the numbers and found that the storyline being trumpeted by premium support opponents is, in fact, fatally flawed.
In his column on the website Real Clear Markets, Antos looked at the number of Part D beneficiaries and pointed out that, even if you increase that enrollment number to the level anticipated by CBO and multiply those additional individuals by the estimated federal cost per enrollee, that still only accounts for 17 percent of the Medicare Part D cost savings.
He also looked at the claims that Part D benefited from the national slowdown in pharmaceutical spending and found that the drop in drug spending was far greater in Medicare than it was in the overall health market. Antos further pointed out that, if Medicare Part D had been structured like fee-for-service Medicare and each prescription was paid for individually the way Medicare pays for other health services, costs would go up because the Medicare bureaucracy would have no incentive to encourage generic medications over brand-name drugs. Competing private plans have an incentive to reduce costs while still retaining the loyalty of their beneficiary customers, thus leading to Part D’s substantial savings.
As Antos writes, “Health plans freed from excessive regulation and perverse payment incentives are capable of finding better ways to provide the care patients need. And seniors, given the proper information, can navigate a system that offers them choices of competing plans.”
Medicare Part D has demonstrated that seniors can, in fact, successfully utilize a system that offers them multiple options for coverage. And contrary to the revisionists trying to rewrite Part D’s brief history, the program does serve as a model for using choice and competition to generate value.
79 Responses to “Desperate to Diminish “D””
January 28th, 2024 at 11:35 am
purchase albuterol pill albuterol 2mg canada purchase ventolin inhalator generic
January 29th, 2024 at 4:30 pm
buy generic zanaflex for sale buy generic zanaflex online zanaflex brand
January 31st, 2024 at 6:57 am
deltasone 10mg brand buy deltasone 5mg pills buy prednisone pill
February 1st, 2024 at 10:54 pm
buy accutane pills for sale isotretinoin over the counter brand accutane
February 3rd, 2024 at 12:40 pm
amoxicillin 250mg pill buy amoxicillin 500mg online cheap buy generic amoxicillin
February 4th, 2024 at 4:05 pm
buy asthma pills onlin how to get ventolin without a prescription buy ventolin cheap
February 5th, 2024 at 6:32 am
cost zithromax 250mg order azithromycin 500mg pill zithromax 500mg sale
February 6th, 2024 at 8:04 am
augmentin generic buy clavulanate no prescription buy clavulanate
February 6th, 2024 at 9:55 pm
omnacortil 20mg price omnacortil oral order prednisolone 20mg online cheap
February 8th, 2024 at 1:00 am
cheap levothyroxine tablets order synthroid 75mcg generic levothyroxine tablets
February 8th, 2024 at 2:13 pm
buy neurontin tablets neurontin 800mg sale neurontin 800mg drug
February 9th, 2024 at 4:53 pm
cost clomiphene clomid 100mg pill cheap clomiphene
February 10th, 2024 at 4:39 am
buy generic lasix lasix us lasix 40mg oral
February 11th, 2024 at 7:36 pm
acticlate oral buy generic acticlate doxycycline 200mg for sale
February 11th, 2024 at 11:07 pm
cheap sildenafil generic order viagra 100mg pill sildenafil citrate 50 mg
February 13th, 2024 at 6:02 am
real money online casinos usa real casino slot machine games slots real money
February 13th, 2024 at 10:36 am
buy semaglutide 14mg generic buy semaglutide 14 mg generic purchase semaglutide pill
February 15th, 2024 at 8:47 pm
order triamcinolone 10mg online cheap buy aristocort 4mg online cheap triamcinolone for sale online
February 16th, 2024 at 6:51 am
cheap plaquenil buy hydroxychloroquine 200mg online purchase plaquenil online
February 17th, 2024 at 3:20 am
desloratadine usa clarinex cheap order clarinex 5mg generic
February 17th, 2024 at 3:31 pm
cialis 5mg order tadalafil 5mg pill buy cialis tablets
February 18th, 2024 at 9:07 am
claritin 10mg uk purchase claritin online cheap order loratadine 10mg online
February 18th, 2024 at 10:37 pm
cenforce where to buy brand cenforce cost cenforce
February 20th, 2024 at 12:03 am
order dapoxetine online cheap buy generic cytotec cytotec 200mcg oral
February 20th, 2024 at 7:59 am
order chloroquine 250mg online cheap buy aralen 250mg chloroquine 250mg usa
February 21st, 2024 at 7:49 am
order xenical pill diltiazem without prescription buy diltiazem without a prescription
February 22nd, 2024 at 12:04 am
metformin 1000mg over the counter glycomet pill buy metformin pill
February 22nd, 2024 at 2:19 pm
zovirax uk zovirax 400mg tablet buy allopurinol 300mg generic
February 24th, 2024 at 6:43 am
how to get norvasc without a prescription amlodipine price cost norvasc
February 24th, 2024 at 2:42 pm
buy rosuvastatin no prescription zetia 10mg generic zetia over the counter
February 25th, 2024 at 4:31 pm
lisinopril generic generic lisinopril 10mg prinivil for sale online
February 25th, 2024 at 9:11 pm
buy cheap motilium sumycin 500mg for sale buy tetracycline 500mg pills
February 26th, 2024 at 10:47 pm
omeprazole generic buy omeprazole 10mg online order prilosec 20mg for sale
February 27th, 2024 at 5:01 am
buy cyclobenzaprine generic buy baclofen sale purchase lioresal for sale
February 28th, 2024 at 10:04 am
brand metoprolol 50mg buy generic metoprolol for sale buy metoprolol 100mg online
February 28th, 2024 at 1:17 pm
where can i buy ketorolac buy ketorolac generic brand colcrys 0.5mg
February 29th, 2024 at 7:45 pm
buy tenormin generic order atenolol 100mg without prescription tenormin oral
March 2nd, 2024 at 3:21 am
medrol 4 mg tablets buy methylprednisolone 16 mg online buy medrol generic
March 2nd, 2024 at 6:16 am
inderal usa order clopidogrel online cheap plavix cheap
March 3rd, 2024 at 9:43 am
generic methotrexate 10mg buy methotrexate 10mg generic medex cost
March 3rd, 2024 at 3:42 pm
writing paper online write essay service help writing essays
March 4th, 2024 at 1:29 pm
metoclopramide order online hyzaar cheap buy cozaar 50mg generic
March 5th, 2024 at 9:21 am
mobic 7.5mg oral celecoxib 200mg price buy celecoxib 100mg for sale
March 5th, 2024 at 4:41 pm
cost esomeprazole 20mg topiramate buy online topiramate 200mg cheap
March 6th, 2024 at 8:03 pm
cost flomax buy celebrex celebrex order
March 8th, 2024 at 9:05 pm
buy imitrex 25mg online buy generic imitrex for sale buy levaquin 500mg
March 9th, 2024 at 3:53 pm
buy zofran generic order ondansetron 8mg without prescription brand aldactone
March 10th, 2024 at 12:40 am
avodart without prescription buy cheap ranitidine order zantac 300mg online
March 11th, 2024 at 3:47 am
order simvastatin 10mg online valacyclovir 1000mg without prescription order valacyclovir 500mg sale
March 11th, 2024 at 3:00 pm
buy proscar online cheap buy diflucan 100mg pill diflucan generic
March 11th, 2024 at 6:36 pm
buy ampicillin without a prescription amoxil without prescription purchase amoxicillin
March 14th, 2024 at 4:54 am
cipro canada – ethambutol online augmentin 375mg generic
March 15th, 2024 at 7:26 am
oral baycip – ethambutol 600mg over the counter augmentin ca
March 17th, 2024 at 9:32 am
order ciprofloxacin 500 mg online – generic tinidazole 500mg buy generic erythromycin over the counter
March 18th, 2024 at 4:09 am
buy metronidazole 400mg for sale – zithromax order online buy azithromycin medication
March 19th, 2024 at 1:23 pm
ivermectin covid – purchase ceftin generic oral sumycin 250mg
March 20th, 2024 at 9:21 am
buy valtrex without prescription – valacyclovir over the counter buy zovirax generic
March 21st, 2024 at 1:17 pm
acillin uk vibra-tabs order order amoxicillin generic
March 22nd, 2024 at 3:21 am
order generic flagyl – order cefaclor 250mg online cheap buy zithromax pill
March 24th, 2024 at 1:04 am
buy furosemide pill – order minipress 1mg for sale order captopril sale
March 25th, 2024 at 9:44 am
order glycomet pill – buy generic combivir over the counter purchase lincomycin
March 27th, 2024 at 4:09 pm
purchase zidovudine online pill – irbesartan ca buy allopurinol 300mg online cheap
March 27th, 2024 at 7:01 pm
order clozapine 50mg for sale – coversum without prescription pepcid 20mg generic
March 30th, 2024 at 11:20 am
purchase clomipramine without prescription – buy asendin 50mg purchase doxepin generic
March 30th, 2024 at 12:10 pm
order quetiapine 100mg for sale – quetiapine online buy order eskalith without prescription
April 1st, 2024 at 7:17 am
order generic atarax 10mg – buy nortriptyline no prescription endep without prescription
April 3rd, 2024 at 1:50 pm
buy amoxiclav without prescription – ethambutol 1000mg without prescription order ciprofloxacin pills
April 4th, 2024 at 10:36 pm
cost amoxicillin – cephalexin 125mg canada cipro 500mg over the counter
April 9th, 2024 at 12:19 pm
zithromax without prescription – buy sumycin 500mg pill purchase ciprofloxacin pill
April 10th, 2024 at 11:08 am
buy cleocin 300mg online – cefixime order chloramphenicol online buy
April 12th, 2024 at 5:24 am
ivermectin 12mg over counter – order levaquin 250mg cost cefaclor 500mg
April 14th, 2024 at 1:52 am
buy albuterol pill – order generic ventolin 4mg theophylline 400mg usa
April 15th, 2024 at 5:27 am
methylprednisolone 8mg for sale – buy depo-medrol canada order generic azelastine 10 ml
April 16th, 2024 at 12:16 pm
where to buy clarinex without a prescription – purchase beclomethasone online buy ventolin cheap
April 18th, 2024 at 8:47 am
buy glyburide generic – buy micronase 2.5mg sale generic forxiga 10 mg
April 22nd, 2024 at 8:41 am
buy semaglutide without prescription – glucovance pills desmopressin medication
April 23rd, 2024 at 4:02 am
purchase terbinafine pills – order fulvicin 250 mg pills purchase grifulvin v for sale
April 25th, 2024 at 7:38 am
ketoconazole price – mentax canada purchase sporanox sale
April 25th, 2024 at 10:17 am
buy famciclovir without a prescription – order valcivir 1000mg buy valcivir 1000mg generic
Leave a Reply