The country’s leading pharmaceutical industry group has agreed to cut Medicare prescription drug prices by $80 billion over 10 years, including selling brand name drugs at half-price to seniors in the Medicare Part D “donut hole” coverage gap. The concession may give drug firms more leverage in dealing with several problematic aspects of reform. These include the possible loss of tax deductions for advertising costs, new transparency requirements and drug importation. There is going to be a lot more give-and-take in the healthcare reform battle. It will be interesting to see who the givers and takers turn out to be.
