Fun Fact and Not So Fun Fact

FUN FACT

The VA (Veterans Administration) pays forty percent (40%) less for pharmaceutical drugs than what Medicare pays, commercial insurance carriers pay, or what your Health and Benefit Plan pays for the same drugs.

NOT SO FUN FACT

Federal law specifically prohibits Medicare from negotiating drug prices or creating its own formulary. This means that Medicare is obligated to pay retail prices and cover almost all drugs that the FDA approves, even those drugs which have proven to be not effective. In other words, your tax dollars are not hard at work as they are not being efficiently spent.

Whether or not you are retired, this little factoid should make you rather upset. But does it make you mad enough to write your State Congress person or Senator about how stupid this is? It should. Remember, some of the most important words of the Gettysburg address are “by the people.” A government by the people means that the people must participate. And sometimes, most times, participating means doing something more than voting.