Editorial: An election-year sop

Thursday, April 29, 2004 | 9:12 a.m.

Last week the Bush administration approved a plan by five states, including Nevada, to pool their purchasing power so they could get lower prices from pharmaceutical companies for the drugs taken by Medicaid patients. Medicaid, a program that the states and federal government operate together, provides medical care for low-income Americans. The skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs has hurt states, causing them to make cuts in other deserving programs to make up for the difference as they balance their budgets. Nevada ultimately expects to save $5 million a year under the purchasing pool arrangement, which also includes Alaska, Michigan, Vermont and New Hampshire.

If it's OK for a few states in the Medicaid program to pool their resources to buy drugs, then why not all of them? And why won't the federal government use its enormous purchasing power to buy drugs in bulk, and get lower prices, under the new prescription drug plan for seniors in Medicare? The reason is simple: President Bush and top Republican lawmakers are afraid to significantly cut into the profits of drug makers, which have showered these politicians with campaign donations. On the other hand, allowing just a handful of states to receive some savings on prescription drugs is the kind of election-year sop that the drug makers and the White House hope will quell calls in Congress for lower drug prices across the board. (It also is revealing that Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson announced his approval for the Medicaid plan in -- surpr ise! -- Michigan, which has a large population and is a swing state that could decide this year's presidential election.)

This cynical attempt by Bush -- to divert attention away from the fact that he won't take on the drug makers in a meaningful way -- is enough to make Americans need an antacid prescription.