Thus, because private coverage is usually superior to Medicaid coverage, the quality of care for seniors would decline. PhRMA fears that manufacturers that refuse to pay the rebates could be excluded from a state's Medicaid program. This could keep important drugs out of its formulary and out of the hands of seniors. Regardless of how the court rules, such concerns and the problems noted above should be taken seriously by HCFA and states that are considering such a waiver. Price controls may be politically expedient, but they distort markets, shift costs to consumers via reduced quantity or quality of controlled products, and reduce investment in technological advances in the controlled sector of the economy.
Seniors make up one-third of the prescription drug market.
If the market comes under price regulation, the amount of money available for research and development will decline. This would push back the day when better treatments and cures are found for such ailments afflicting seniors as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, heart disease, strokes, and osteoporosis. A Better Solution. This generates competition among plans to provide maximum access to high-quality service and prescription drugs to avoid losing market share and paying for far more expensive surgical procedures down the road. Such incentives do not exist and cannot exist to the same degree in the current Medicaid program.