Private Plans Should Set Drug Prices -Medicare
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As some lawmakers clamor for letting Medicare directly negotiate drug prices, Medicare's chief said on Wednesday that the health program for the elderly could save more money by letting the private sector set prices.
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â¢ President Bush : Signed a law giving the elderly prescription drug coverage under Medicare for the first time. Insurance companies and private health plans now have an expanded role in the program.
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Prices for about 200 prescription drugs  in the United States commonly used by seniors rose nearly twice  the rate of inflation, a seniors group said on Tuesday, making  a case for letting the government negotiate drug prices.
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U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing the explosive growth in a lucrative type of private health plan under Medicare, an independent advisor to the U.S. Congress told lawmakers on Wednesday.
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Rising cost projections for the new  Medicare drug benefit alarmed U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday and  set off renewed calls to restrain spiraling drug prices and  allow pharmaceutical imports from Canada.
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Few Employers Say They Will Drop Coverage In 2006 When Medicare Drug Law Is Implemented - As businesses struggle to control rising retiree health costs, they are asking their retirees to pay more and plan to do so again in 2005, according to a new survey
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A key component of the new Medicare reform law calls for private insurers to expand their role in Medicare so they would serve large multistate regions.
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Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in private, managed care plans cost the government 12.4 percent more than those in the traditional program last year, for a total cost of more than $5.2 billion, according to a study released Thursday.
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The nation&#39;s top health officials redrew the map of the United States on Monday to entice private insurers to offer Medicare coverage in 2006, including prescription drug benefits.
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An end-of-the year push in Congress to stave off a 10 percent cut in the fees Medicare pays doctors has revived political interest in another thorny issue: whether physicians should be able to own the hospitals they send their patients to.
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MONDAY, Nov. 22 (HealthDay News) -- One part of the new Medicare drug plan passed by Congress earlier this year could live up to its advance clippings and save people a lot of money. But some people could end up spending more than &#36;750 out-of-pocket even after they participate in the program.
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Medicare will test the idea of  paying for antiviral drugs for some patients who catch  influenza, the U.S. government's health insurance plan for the  elderly said on Friday.
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With soaring medical costs imperiling Medicare and the federal government&#39;s financial health, Washington needs a straight answer to a key question: Can private companies deliver more medical services for less money than the government-run Medicare program
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A U.S. group advising Medicare on its new prescription drug benefit released a proposal on Thursday that could determine how likely the latest medicines are to be covered for the elderly.
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Medicare beneficiaries will have to pay substantially more next year for coverage of brand-name prescription drugs that keeps them from falling into the "doughnut hole," according to a new report that government officials swiftly criticized as incomplete.
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Medicare should revise its  reimbursement system to reward efficient care at private  hospitals and doctors treating the federal program's 43 million  users, a government advisory body said on Thursday.
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Private insurers in the Medicare  insurance program were paid 12.4 percent more by the government  than the health care provided would have cost under traditional  Medicare, a report released on Thursday said.