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The big news over the weekend of course was the $80 billion discount seniors will receive for brand-name prescription drugs over the next ten years.

Pharma companies agreed late last week to reduce Medicare drug costs and outlined a proposal to forgo $80 billion in revenue over a decade, an amount that would make up part of the $313 billion in government health-spending cuts that President Obama has proposed to help pay for the overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system.

Obama gave the agreement a thumbs up and said it was a step in the right direction..

“Key sectors of the health care industry acknowledge what American families and businesses already know — that the status quo is no longer sustainable. The agreement reached today to lower prescription drug costs for seniors will be an important part of the legislation I expect to sign into law in October.”

The 50% discount would go to most beneficiaries for brand-name medicines purchased in the so-called “doughnut hole” gap in coverage, which involves medication costs of seniors between roughly $2,700 and $6,100 a year that are not covered by the Medicare part D plan.

Read more at WSJ, CNN.

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