21 September 2015 - A poll last month by Consumer Reports found that a third of the patients who take prescription drugs are paying significantly more this year, forcing many to cut back on other necessities or load up on credit card debt. Another poll in August by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that about a quarter of those surveyed said they had trouble paying for prescription drugs.

Many of the people most affected by rising drug prices are older patients on Medicare, who often live on modest incomes, are in poor health, and take four or more prescription drugs. One way to reduce drug costs for this population is to reverse the policy set by the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, which created Medicare’s prescription drug program.

At Republican insistence, that law barred the federal government from negotiating with drug manufacturers. It relied on bargaining by private insurers that manage drug benefits for Medicare patients, like UnitedHealth, Aetna and CVS Caremark, to wring discounts from the drug makers. That wasn’t enough.

For more details, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/opinion/use-medicares-muscle-to-lower-drug-prices.html?emc=edit_th_20150921&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=20088616&_r=0