Why are Americans charged so much more than other countries for popular drugs?

[Celerity]

20. And that's because some of the conservative Dem Senators helped to pass the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement

and Modernization Act in 2003, which blocked Medicare from pharma price negotiations. It also brought forth the current form of the odious Medicare Advantage private insurance scams.

Feinstein also voted Yea. One of multiple issues/votes I disagreed with her on (retrospectively of course, as I had just turned 7 years old when it passed in late 2003).

Wyden also voted Yea, disappointingly.

Kerry and Lieberman did not vote.

Senate final vote: it passed 54-44

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1081/vote_108_1_00459.htm?congress=108&session=1&vote=00459

YEAs (Democratic) Bold are still in the Senate

Baucus (D-MT)
Breaux (D-LA)
Carper (D-DE)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Miller (D-GA)
Nelson (D-NE)
Wyden (D-OR)


Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,_Improvement,_and_Modernization_Act

snip

Bar to negotiation of prescription drug prices

After the enactment of Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act in 2003, only insurance companies administering Medicare prescription drug program, not Medicare, had the legal right to negotiate drug prices directly with drug manufacturers. The Medicare Prescription Drug Act expressly prohibited Medicare from negotiating bulk prescription drug prices. The "donut hole" provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 was an attempt to correct the issue. In 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act removed this ban and allowed Medicare to begin negotiating drug prices starting in 2026. (my add, only on 10 selected drugs and Big Pharma is fighting this massively)

snip

Medicare Advantage plans

With the passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Medicare beneficiaries were given the option to receive their Medicare benefits through private health insurance plans, instead of through the Original Medicare plan (Parts A and B). These programs were known as "Medicare+Choice" or "Part C" plans. Pursuant to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, the compensation and business practices for insurers that offer these plans changed, and "Medicare+Choice" plans became known as "Medicare Advantage" (MA) plans. In addition to offering comparable coverage to Part A and Part B, Medicare Advantage plans may also offer Part D coverage.

Changes to plans

With the MMA, new Medicare Advantage plans were established with several substantive differences from the previous Medicare + Choice plans, including:

enrollees sign on for a whole year

care could be restricted to specific provider networks

formularies were to be used to restrict prescription drug choices

prescription coverage would be deferred to the patient or a Medicare Part D prescription plan

care other than emergency care can be restricted to a particular region

federal reimbursement can be adjusted according to the health risk of the enrollees