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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (734296)	3/28/2006 7:15:34 PM
From: pompsander	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Much of the "nightmare" portion of the plan, COULD have been remedied IF..." Still can be. Agreed....the formularies Pro talks about were the medical plan sponsors' efforts to try to bulk buy and control costs. Use of generics, partial fills, etc. all were cost containment methods. They work...at some level, but they add complication. They were designed by Plans with finite reserves to pay out of. The gov. on the other hand, seems to have infinite reserves..so the plan they design is more costly, more complicated and less flexible. I still think a simple indemnity plan whereby Pro, for example, has five thousand bucks of our hard earned tax money to spend on his drugs...He can work with his doctor to get the least expensive prescription. He can then shop that prescription all over town until he finds the cheapest fill. Let's say its at Costco. He is in the national database and after filling his Rx Costco goes online and debits his running account $59.20..or whatever. The big computer in Medicare headquarters keeps track of his remaining balance for the year. He and his doctor have maximum control, everyone gets the same benefit, those willing to work the process get the most value..... Choice, options, control, simplicity. This concept was pushed hard by the insurance companies and administrators. It was opposed by the drug companies who believed (probably rightly) that this would create pressure from the pharmacies and others to reduce pricing.