2006 – April 06
The Excess Cost of the Bush Prescription Drug Plan in New York (click to download PDF).
In passing the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act (MMA), the Republican controlled Congress passed a bill written by and for the drug and insurance companies that deliberately built in waste and inefficiency. This Part D will cost New York taxpayers and prescription drug beneficiaries $52.7 billion over the next ten years, compared to a prescription drug bill designed to maximize efficiency. The most simple and efficient way to cover the cost of prescription drugs would have been to extend traditional Medicare with a simple add on to include prescription drugs and by requiring Medicare to negotiate lower prices with the drug companies, like the Veterans Administration currently does.
