Hooray for the efficiency of the private sector!
"Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Insurance companies offering Medicare-funded prescription drug plans are costing U.S. taxpayers almost $15 billion a year in excess administrative fees and pharmaceutical costs, a congressional study found.
The study released today also found insurers fail to pass on $1 billion a year in discounts from drugmakers to participants in Medicare, the U.S. health program for the elderly and disabled.
``The use of private insurers to deliver Medicare drug coverage is driving up costs and producing only limited savings on drug prices,'' said Representative Henry Waxman, a California Democrat and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The panel's Democratic staff prepared the analysis.