CBO: Obamacare To Raise Drug Costs

Okay, anyone who remembers Democrats in general and Obama in particular telling us their health care overhaul would lower drug prices, please raise your hand. For those of you who do NOT remember this, please take a moment to review the record.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/09/flashback-obama-promises_n_254833.html

"First, we'll take on the drug and insurance companies and hold them accountable for the prices they charge and the harm they cause... And then we'll tell the pharmaceutical companies, 'Thanks but no thanks for overpriced drugs'. Drugs that cost twice as much here as they do in Europe and Canada and Mexico. We'll let Medicare negotiate for lower prices. We'll stop drug companies from blocking generic drugs that are just as effective and far less expensive. We'll allow the safe reimportation of low-cost drugs from countries like Canada."

If you're interested in video, follow the link and wait until somewhere around the 23 minute mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9PIN03qGjg&feature=player_embedded

Okay, so we're clear, right? One of the "benefits" of Obamacare is that it lowers prescription drug prices, right?

Well, apparently not.


The CBO, finally doing what it SHOULD have done BEFORE the law passed, now says that ObamaCare will allow prescription drug prices to rise.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/10/20/cbo-says-health-reform-causes-drug-costs-rise/

“The legislation also imposes an annual fee on manufacturers and importers of brand-name drugs CBO expects that the fee will probably increase the prices of drugs purchased through Medicare and the prices of newly introduced drugs purchased through Medicaid and other federal programs.”

For drugs covered by Medicare, the Affordable Care Act could raise prices purchased through Medicare and other programs by about 1%, Elmendorf estimates. For new drugs bought through Medicaid, the changes could increase prices paid by pharmacies by 4%, he says.

Of course, that's not the only danger. Some of the provisions in ObamaCare could result in higher drug prices in another way.

Also, provisions in the reform act will force manufacturers of brand-name drugs to provide new 50% discounts and rebates for drugs purchased through Medicare and Medicaid. The amounts of the discounts and rebates will be based on the prices of the drugs.

But since the amount of the discount is based on the price of the drugs, drug makers can simply jack up the underlying price. CBO director Doug Elmendorf says just that, that the CBO expects the drug makers will attempt to offset those discounts by increasing prices on drugs.

“Manufacturers thus have an incentive to raise those prices to offset the costs of providing the new discounts and rebates, although other forces will limit their ability to do so,” Elmendorf says, declining to fully spell out those other forces.

So there you have it. ANOTHER promise that wasn't kept. ANOTHER claim about ObamaCare that just isn't true. ANOTHER lie.

And Democrats wonder why the rest of us want to repeal this monstrosity?