Congressman calls for probe into Valeant’s pricing of lead poisoning drug

Re:Congressman calls for probe into Valeant’s pricing of lea... by grzm on Monday October 24, 2016 @10:17AM (#12778952)

Thanks for taking the time to put this together. So, as I understand it, a simplified summary of Part D:

* There are a number of plans provided by private companies available under Medicare Part D.

* The government pays certain rates for these plans.

* The private companies negotiate the prices they pay with the drug companies.

I'm purposely omitting details as I want to make sure I'm understanding the overall picture.

If this is the case, I can see how it phrasing such as "the government can't negotiate prices" is true but misleading. True in that the government doesn't work directly with the drug companies so there is no negotiation, and misleading because it implies that there is such direct contact.

Is that fair?

This has been useful. I appreciate the time you've taken.

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Re:Congressman calls for probe into Valeant’s pricing of lea... by refurb on Monday October 24, 2016 @11:56AM (#12779954)

That is fair. Saying "Medicare can't negotiate" is misleading because it infers Medicare is paying too much for drugs, when in fact, private companies negotiate on their behalf and pass along savings.

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