http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=97&ncid=751&e=10&u=/hsn/20040630/hl_hsn/drugcosthikelinkedtonewmedicarebenefitsWEDNESDAY, June 30 (HealthDayNews) -- The new Medicare drug benefit may have spurred the most recent hike in prescription medication costs for older Americans, a new report suggests.
Manufacturer prices for brand-name prescription drugs rose 4.4 percent, or nearly three times the general inflation rate, during the three-month period from Dec. 31, 2003, through March 31, 2004.
According to the report, released Wednesday by AARP, those increases came after President Bush (news - web sites) signed the Medicare prescription drug benefit into law on Dec. 8, 2003. The discount drug cards only became available to seniors in June.
"We can't say for sure why it's happening, but there certainly seems to be an association," said David Gross, first author of the report and a senior policy advisor at the AARP Public Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. "It doesn't prove it, but it doesn't disprove it."
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