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From New York Times:
The Bush administration said on Sunday that it would strenuously oppose one of the Democrats' top priorities for the new Congress: legislation authorizing the government to negotiate with drug companies to secure lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries.
In an interview, Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, said he saw no prospect of compromise on the issue.
"In politics," Mr. Leavitt said, "most specific issues like this are a disguise for a larger difference.
Federal price negotiations would unravel the whole structure of the Medicare drug benefit, which relies on competing private plans, Mr. Leavitt said.
The 2003 Medicare law explicitly prohibits the federal government from negotiating drug prices or establishing a list of preferred drugs.
"The government negotiates big discounts for the prices of drugs for our veterans," said Senator-elect Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
"I don't believe I can do a better job than an efficient market," he said.
"We are seeing large-scale negotiations with drug manufacturers, but they are conducted by private drug plans, not by the government," Mr. Leavitt said.
Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Dan Bartlett, counselor to the president, said competing private plans had already brought down costs more than government price controls would have.
Under federal law, drug makers must provide a discount, or rebate, equal to at least 15 percent of the average manufacturer price for most brand-name drugs covered by Medicaid, the program for low-income people.
Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat poised to become chairman of the Finance Committee, voted in March against a proposal authorizing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
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Posted on November 12, 2006 11:38 PM
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