Health Care Costs Leap 9.3% - Drug Costs to Blame - Bush Medicare Bill to Raise Costs

A January 8 article in the Washington Post, entitled "Health Care Spending Increases for 6th Year: Two Reports Depict Nearly Unbridled Growth" confirms what so many Illinoisans already knew: Health care is expensive and getting more so fast. The story is based on two recently released studies, one by the Alliance for Health Reform and another by the Project Hope research organization. It begins:

"Health care spending in the United States grew by 9.3 percent in 2002 over the previous year, driven by rising costs for hospitalization, physician services, home health care and especially prescription drugs...Spending on prescription drugs taken outside the hospital rose about 15 percent in 2002 and "far outpaces the spending growth for other health services," said Cynthia Smith of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services."

The article goes on to assess the effect of the recent Medicare bill passed over the objections of many Democrats, including Blair Hull: "Recent changes to the Medicare program that will offer elderly and disabled Americans the opportunity to buy inexpensive prescription drug coverage are likely to continue those trends. In offering that coverage, the government will not negotiate with drug companies directly on drug prices, but will leave that up to various private companies managing the new benefit.

The story closes with a quote from Joseph P. Newhouse, a Harvard University health economist: "The government cannot be put in the place of paying any price a manufacturer wants for its product."

Blair Hull's health plan calls for direct government involvement in negotiating the price of drugs. Hull also opposes the Bush Administration's tax cuts for the wealthy, which will place an even greater share of exploding prescription drug costs on America's middle class.

Demanding Fair Drug Prices for Americans

December 17, 2003: It was still dark as Blair and his crew of prescription buyers stepped off the bus to see the doctor in Windsor. After everyone had visited the physician and gotten their Canadian prescriptions, they moved over to the pharmacy, where they completed their missions by purchasing their medicines. One by one, they reported their savings: $200, $300, even $700.

The group had the proof they needed: Prescription drugs can be had for about half of what we pay in Illinois. But people had another question: "What do we do when these supplies run out in three months?". And that's the important question. Blair Hull's answer: People shouldn't have to go to Canada to get fair prices. They should be able to go to their corner pharmacies and buy their medications at prices that are competitive with the rest of the world.

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43.6 million in U.S. are uninsured