Viagra use to be government
funded for one more year
  December
15th, 2005
Congressional negotiators, the Senate and House of Representatives
agreed on Monday that anti-impotence drugs such as Viagra will be
paid for this fiscal year by federal health programs before a ban
is imposed on payments Oct. 1, 2006.
Under the deal, federally run health care programs will spend
$90 million this fiscal year to pay for patients' Viagra and other
erectile dysfunction drugs including Cialis, sold by Eli Lilly &
Co. and Levitra, sold by Bayer AG and GlaxoSmithKline Plc, but marketed
in the United States by Schering-Plough Corp.
In June, the House voted for a ban on Medicare and Medicaid payments
for drugs such as Pfizer's Viagra. The prohibition on such payments
is attached to a massive, yet uncompleted, health care bill begun
on Oct. 1. This provision alone is estimated by congressional aids
to save the government about $2 billion over the next 10 years.
Those savings are expected to finance a $500 million Hurricane Katrina
aid bill approved in October.
However, Congress will have to find funds elsewhere this year due
to worries that suddenly shutting off the funds could create legal
problems for the government. House and Senate negotiators scrapped
the ban and agreed on $602 billion compromise bill for the time
being.
The compromise bill to pay for health and labor programs is expected
to be voted on by the House and Senate in coming days.
Source Reuters
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