Part D

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This $69B Deal May Reshape Health Care as We Know It

Proposed CVS-Aetna merger is approved by the DOJ

(Newser) - On Wednesday, CVS all but "cemented the deal" to buy Aetna for $69 billion, by scoring the Justice Department's preliminary approval of the deal, reports CNBC . With that green light comes a condition: that Aetna complete its plan to unload its Medicare Part D prescription drug plan business,...

Brand-Name Drugs Cost Medicare Billions

Doctors with ties to industry go with pricey versions instead of generics

(Newser) - So much money wasted, such a seemingly simple fix. A ProPublica investigation finds that a relatively small group of doctors costs taxpayers hundreds of millions dollars per year because they choose to prescribe pricey brand-name drugs to low-income Medicare patients instead of generic versions. Is it because they have hearts...

Medicare Has Been Paying for Prescriptions Written by ... Art Therapists

Paid $31.6M in 2009 for prescriptions written by people who aren't authorized to write them

(Newser) - Massage therapists and home contractors are not authorized to prescribe drugs—but Medicare will still cover the cost, anyway. That's according to a new study by the Department of Health and Human Services, which found Medicare paid $31.6 million in 2009 as part of its Part D program...

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