Medicare 'doughnut hole' relief could be offset by higher prescription drug prices

The Washington Post reports:

Beginning next year, at the expense of pharmaceutical companies, millions of senior citizens in the Medicare coverage gap known as the "doughnut hole" will receive 50 percent discounts off the price of brand-name prescription drugs.

The government does not control the underlying prices; the law leaves that to the market.

"There is legitimate concern that some manufacturers will steeply increase the price of drugs in order to offset the cost of the discount to the manufacturers at the expense of both consumers and the Medicare program itself," the Center for Medicare Advocacy and the Medicare Rights Center said in a letter to the agency that oversees the federal health insurance program.

The fallout from central planning. Hope and change.