A sick system

Regarding your Dec. 29 editorial "Medicine money":

No one will admit responsibility for having a role in "policing" the rising costs of health care. No one has apparently legislated a "compliance plan" that could have prevented annual membership enrollment increases of 50 percent a year over the initial three years for Medicare Prescription Plan D. There was a time when certain prices had to comply to "reasonableness" criteria. Now the sky is the limit.

In just 11 months, the price of my wife's prescription for treating multiple sclerosis has risen from $1,871 to $2,397 a month. The identical drug can be sourced through a Canadian pharmacy for $1,613 a month. The supplier blames the manufacturer. The manufacturer blames the insurer.

My personal Plan D premiums were raised 50 percent a year. That stopped when I rid myself of the insurer and found another offering the same drugs for less of a premium. Who is looking at my previous insurer's rates?

Thanks to President Bush and his lackluster administration, Medicare was granted the excuse that it cannot negotiate lower drug prices. Who should have stepped up to make the case for Medicare? Politicians? They are obviously on sleeping pills. They are part of the face of an abominable health care system that is only getting sicker.

Michael V. Bimonte

Raleigh