Part D doesn't provide savings

In a letter published in the Daily Herald April 27, the executive director of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Illinois was ecstatic about the great success of Medicare Part D. The two successes cited were availability and savings.

I will agree that the availability of the program is a success. The savings cited in the letter are an illusion and only serve to enhance the profits of the pharmaceutical companies.

Section 18600 of the legislation that established Part D specifically prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from negotiating prices, requiring a particular formulary or establishing a price structure for Part D drugs. This restriction was a direct result of lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry.

The Veterans Affairs can negotiate price. The immediate result was that prices for half of the top 20 brand name drugs under Part 0 were at least 50 percent more expensive than prices negotiated for veterans. The price for Lipitor, the most prescribed name brand for seniors, was 59 percent higher under Part D than through the VA.

The Part D premiums rose 21 percent on average in 2008 and 24 percent in 2009. Who benefited? This was not savings returned to seniors. This was excess profit for the pharmaceutical industry.

We must urge Congress to change Section 1860D to specifically provide the Secretary of HHS the authority to negotiate Part D prices just as the VA can. This will result in true savings for seniors along with the availability of needed medications.

Royce M. Blackwell

Elgin