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Medicare Overpays For Supplies Used In Medical Equipment Medicare would save taxpayers and patients $47 million a year if it bought a widely used asthma drug from the local Wal-Mart or Drug Emporium instead of paying the pharmaceutical industry sticker price according to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Care Financing Administration recently responded that it will cut prices Medicare pays for certain medical supplies such as the asthma drug Albuterol. A provision in the 1997 Balanced Budget Act gave Medicare the authority to cut prices for medical equipment and supplies if the government believes the prices are too high. A Drug Emporium in Dallas for example, charges $35.94 for a monthly supply of Albuterol, compared to the $117.50 that Medicare pays. The Medicare price for Albuterol is 88% higher than the average price at Internet pharmacy chains Drugstore.com, Parmor.com, and Planetrx.com, and, almost seven times higher than the price paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Source: "Medicare Plans To Use Authority To Cut Medical Supply Prices," Bloomberg News, July 7, 2000. "Medicare Cost For Asthma Drug 24% Higher Than At Drug Stores," Bloomberg News, June 21, 2000. This article first appeared in Volume 5, Issue 10 of "The Social Security and Medicare Advisor" newsletter (October/2000). To receive future editions of "The Advisor" in its special, free e-mail version, please click here. | ||||||||
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