Congress Mulls Medicare Expansion - Cover Prescription-Drug Expenses But experts warn that low-ball estimates will lead to price controls a real threat to R&D.

Byline: Benjamin Kepple, Investor's Daily

There's good news for Medicare recipients who find prescription drugs painfully expensive: Both Democrats and Republicans have plans to make them cheaper. The bad news is that those plans could lead to price controls on thosedrugs. And that, analysts say, could squelch research-and-development spendingand limit the pace at which new medicines come to market. Supporters of prescription drug plans dismiss those concerns. But as the proposals now read, the drug plans could saddle the government with billions of dollars in expensesit can't afford. Even without this huge added cost, Medicare already is in trouble, some warn. "I just don't think we're in a position to afford an expansion of Medicare when we don't have the current system tightly under control as it is," said …