Republicans: Medicare Drug Program Is Working Well

The Bush administration says competition between private Medicare Part D prescription plans will help participants pay 41% less in premiums in 2007 than originally projected.

Net Medicare costs for the fiscal year 2008 budget cycle are about 30% less than analysts were predicting when the program was created in 2003, and that will translate into $189 billion in savings, according to Michael Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

For enrollees who remain in their current plans, average monthly premiums will fall to $22 in 2007, from $23 in 2006, Leavitt reports.

The initial estimate for 2006 premiums was $37.

“Our new estimates provide clear evidence that consumer choice is working,” Leavitt said today. “Government interference will result in fewer choices and less consumer satisfaction. Actuaries have told us that government interference will not lead to lower drug prices either.”

Leavitt spoke as the Bush administration was preparing for a vote scheduled for Friday on H.R. 4, a bill that calls for the secretary to negotiate directly with drug manufacturers for lower Medicare drug plan medication prices.

Democrats appear to have the votes to get the bill through the House, but getting the bill through the Senate could be more difficult.

In a Senate floor speech today, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, former chairman and now ranking minority member of the Senate Finance Committee, disputed the need for the House bill.

“Everyone has heard the old saying that, ‘If it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it’,” Grassley said. “And this certainly applies here and the evidence shows it.”