Medicare Part D

The National Coalition on Health Care took aim at co-pay cards and coupons with a report suggesting that they might push 2 million US seniors to opt for more expensive branded drugs over generics.

President Obama's proposed 2013 budget would mandate an estimated $156 billion in new rebates to low-income seniors through Medicare over the next decade - discounts that would come out of the pockets of drug companies and could cost tens of thousands of jobs, according to PhRMA.

Armed with AARP and Kaiser Family research, members of the Senate Special Committee on Aging asked panelists why brand drug prices in the US continue to increase, while other countries pay half as much for the same products.

PhRMA has committed to finding $80 billion in savings on drugs sold in the US over 10 years, including selling drugs at half-price to seniors in the Medicare Part D "donut hole" coverage gap.