When price is no object

St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times: The marketplace Congress created for Medicare prescriptions is looking more like Neiman Marcus than Wal-Mart. Though the government has flooded the market with 43 million seniors, the group discount is, at best, pennies on the dollar.
Price comparisons by Families USA, in fact, reveal a Medicare drug plan that is gouging seniors and taxpayers alike. Here's one jarring example:
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pays $253 for a year's supply of Protonix, a common prescription for acid reflux. The lowest-priced Medicare Part D insurance company in two regions offers the drug for $1,080.
Self-described conservatives in Congress were so eager for pharmaceutical and insurance industry campaign donations and so enamored by privatization that they refused to accept the lessons of their own VA. The VA has been able to bargain deep discounts on generic and brand-name prescriptions.