The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing titled, “The Medicare Drug Benefit: Are Private Insurers Getting Good Discounts for the Taxpayer?” on Thursday, July 24, 2008, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building.
The Medicare Part D program provides prescription drug coverage to almost 30 million enrollees, and will cost federal taxpayers almost $1 trillion in the next decade. The hearing examined whether the private insurers that receive government subsidies to provide the Part D benefit are able to effectively obtain prescription drug discounts from drug manufacturers. Since the Part D program’s inception in January 2006, observers have questioned whether the private insurers who run the program are effectively negotiating with drug manufacturers for low prices. A preliminary transcript of this hearing is now available.
The following witnesses testified: