We-Have-to-Pass-It-to-See-What’s-In-It Fact of the Day
In an unintended consequence of the new health care law, drug companies have begun notifying children’s hospitals around the country that they no longer qualify for large discounts on drugs used to treat rare medical conditions…
Congress, in revising the drug discount program as part of the new health care law, blocked these hospitals from continuing to receive price cuts on orphan drugs intended for treatment of diseases affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the United States… The discounts typically range from 30 percent to 50 percent, and children’s hospitals say the change is costing them hundreds of millions of dollars.
Full article on yet another unintended consequence of the new health care law.
The same is true of state Medicaid drug discounts. Some states have aggressively negotiated discounts and rebates and depend on these funds to pay a portion of the state’s share of Medicaid. Now, the rebates will go to the federal government and states have to find another way to make ends meets. Indiana was especially hard hit in this regard.
So does this mean I keep the drug plan I have, with all the discounts it has, er, had, or not? May not be change you can believe in, but you’d better believe it’s change. Just don’t call it rationing care.
This is exactly what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they gave Congress the power to regulate commerce. Way to go, Congress!
This is scandalous.