A Medicare drug plan would have several drawbacks. Since it is hard to predict the cost of future drugs, there is no way to know for certain how much it would cost the government. It would also make it more difficult for drug companies to predict how much money they would be able to charge under the plan, which may reduce investment in new research. (The current bill of not allowing the government to negotiate better prices solves the latter problem by exacerbating the former.)

There is a simple solution to both these problems. While it does not solve the "big problem", it does provide benefits to seniors, and would greatly help the poorest among them. Medicare should cover the full cost of all prescription drugs whose patent has expired. The cost to the government would be minimal, and while the assistance provided to seniors would also be minimal, it would greatly help the poorest seniors for who even the generic portion of their drug bill can be more than they can afford. It would also be very easy to sell this plan to the middle-aged. After all, for a forty-five year old, this plan would ensure that every drug currently on the market would be provided for him free by the time he is old enough to qualify for Medicare.

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