The ills of fixing drug prices.(Correction, Please!)

ITEM: Writing in the Philadelphia Inquirer for December 6, Karen Davenport railed that Congress has "left Medicare without the power to do much about high or unfair drug prices." Davenport, the head of health policy for the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. [run by President Clinton's former chief of staff John Podesta], continued: "During the 2006 elections, candidates across the country promised to give Medicare more market muscle by giving Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices." After suggesting several methods of "bargaining with drug makers," Davenport stressed: "However it does so, Medicare should take care of drug prices."

ITEM: The Oregonian for November 28 called for Congress to authorize Medicare "to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower medicine prices." Drug companies, editorialized the paper, "toss out several unconvincing arguments against allowing Medicare to negotiate with them. One is that it would create what [Health and Human Services Secretary Michael] Leavitt darkly calls 'government-run health care.' Well Medicare has successfully provided "government-run health care' for many years. So has the Veterans Administration, which successfully bargains for lower drug prices."

ITEM: An Associated Press article in the San Diego Union-Tribune for December 8 reported: "Seniors strongly support a plan to let the federal government negotiate drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries, a new poll suggests.... About 85 percent of seniors want to let the government use its buying power to negotiate drug prices, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported Friday."

CORRECTION: It's increasingly hard to distinguish among the talking points issued by the Democratic Party and its allies, leftist editorials advocating more government interference in the healthcare industry, and supposedly straight reporting.

Not surprisingly, after decades of pushing the line that more government is good for what ails you, and that cheap or free healthcare is an American "right," liberals who ask most of the poll questions usually get the responses they seek.

Several questions asked by the Kaiser Family Foundation poll followed this formula: "I'm going to read you a list of things some people have said about allowing the federal government to use its buying power to negotiate with drug companies to try to get a lower price for prescription drugs for people on Medicare, and I'd like you to tell me whether you agree or disagree with each of these statements. Some people say that allowing the federal government to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices [means such and such, depending on the particular question]. Do you agree or disagree?" Yes, most of those questioned opted for negotiations, which they were told would lead to lower prices.

Yet, despite the leading language, fully 60 percent of all of those questioned also agreed that negotiations "will lead to government price controls on prescription drugs." That actually is remarkable considering the underlying assumptions of the questioning. That newsworthy response, however, was decidedly not included in the wire-service story or highlighted by the poll promoters.