I honestly wonder how much the American Health Insurance Plans association paid United Press International for this total fluff piece supporting Medicare Part D .

“I’m hearing shock from (state) Medicaid directors that we’re getting better prices than they are,” she told UPI. “I don’t know of any other government program where the real costs are less than the estimates,” she said, arguing that the plans are offering “affordable products” with low premiums and low deductibles. -Karen Ignagni, president of the health insurance association

Actually, Karen (can I call you Karen?), the administration has been charged with trying to supress the real cost of the plan, getting the program passed with a much lower estimate . The administration told Congress the plan would cost $534B over 10 years, when it’ll probably actually cost more than double that. Whoops.

And, uh, by the way, UPI, your headline is absolutely wrong. The “Fed”–that’s the VA, right?– actually gets better prices than Medicare Part D .

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