The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform found that Medicare unjustifiably pays 30 percent more on the same drugs than Medicaid. The report, which analyzed data from so-called dual beneficiaries, which are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid coverage, found the unjustified giveaway of billions of dollars towards pharmaceutical companies.

Specifically, the Medicare Part D, a program created by a 2003 law to subsidize prescriptions for elderly and disabled people, paid $3.7 billion more over two years than it would have if drugs were priced at Medicaid's rates. Democrats said that the 2003 law at issue essentially gave drug companies a windfall from drugs whose prices, paid by taxpayers, have been ballooned by billions of dollars.

Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) President and CEO Mark Merritt said in his testimony that PBMs and plan sponsors have reduced overall program costs by 30 percent below government projections by using the Medicare Part D program, which essentially offers prescription drug benefits through private health plans.

Republicans in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform have written their own report, which implausibly claims that discounting Medicare drugs as well would force drug companies to increase costs to other payers in the system, such as private employers and unions.

Drug companies already have unbelievably high margins in the United States, and it is much safer to assume that discounting Medicare drugs as much as Medicaid ones will only dent a little bit their already outrageous profits.