Generic Prices Too High

Confirming my seat-of-the-pants analysis yesterday, this morning's Wall Street Journal (subscription required) has a story showing that recent generics have entered the market at lower discounts to the brand-name drugs than previous entries. Medicare refusing to negotiate bulk discounts is one part of the problem. Another is that the drug store chains are gouging individual consumers not in group plans. A telling anecdote from the story: After the reporter called, CVS lowered its price on the first generic statin (simvastatin, the brand name drug formerly known as Zocor) by over 25 percent.