Have you ever seen a guy on a sitcom reading the paper while sipping coffee and then suddenly spray the coffee all over the place? Comedians call that a "sip and spit." Well, this morning I did a sip and spit, 21st Century style.
I was searching Google News for articles about the pending legislation to allow the federal government to negotiate prescription drug prices for Medicare Part D. Just as I took a sip of my Starbucks, I spotted the name of the person who is leading the opposition to this common sense approach. As I was wiping the mocha from my monitor, I stared at the name of the leader of the opposition – Iowa’s own Senator Chuck Grassley. What in the world is my Senator doing opposing cheaper drugs?
Let’s start with this assumption. Reasonable people can disagree, so I’d like to give Senator Grassley the benefit of the doubt instead of assuming that Senator Grassley is in the pocket of "big pharma." The article quotes Senator Grassley as saying "Federal price negotiations would unravel the whole structure of the Medicare drug benefit, which relies on competing private plans." I’m not sure how Senator Grassley reached this conclusion. Is he saying that if we don’t let the drug companies have their way, they will collapse?
Interestingly, just below Senator Grassley’s quote in the article is this fact. "Families USA, a senior advocacy organization, released a study Tuesday that found that prices for the most commonly prescribed medications are an average 58 percent higher under Medicare prescription-drug plans than those paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs." That is because the VA is allowed to negotiate prices, while Medicare is not. So, doesn’t that point to the fact that, when we allow our government to use its massive buying power to negotiate on our behalf, we win?
This just seems like common sense, doesn’t it? You don’t have to be Warren Buffett to figure out that the government has massive buying power. If Wal-Mart can use its buying power to negotiate $4 prescriptions, shouldn’t our government be allowed to do the same thing on our behalf? How can cheaper drugs for seniors be a bad thing? Why would our Senator oppose such a common sense approach?
You know, now that I think of it, there might be a second reason to "sip and spit." Have you ever sipped sour milk? When you sip something repulsive, you just naturally sip and spit. Maybe Iowans should sip this idea that negotiating better drug prices for seniors is a bad thing, and then spit it right out. This is an idea that we just can’t swallow.article