Perspective               

Drug Companies Restore Discounts for People with Medicare

Bristol-Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKlein, two drug companies, have announced that they will restore the discounts on prescription drugs they had been offering to low-income older and disabled people with Medicare as a part of the Together Rx program. The companies had raised prices on several of their drugs in early October, they said in order to comply with a federal drug-pricing law that would require them to offer the same low prices to the Medicaid program.

The companies' decision to restore the discounts was made after the Bush administration assured the companies that the government would not demand the same low prices for Medicaid.

Both Bristol-Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKlein said they planned to reimburse any member of the Together Rx program who paid higher prices for drugs in October.

To sign up for the Together Rx program, call 1-800-865-7211 or go to www.togetherrx.com. For information about other prescription drug discount programs, click here.

_________________________________