This article suggests that the price-comparison tool on the Medicare web site will have Medicare beneficiaries questioning their doctors about their prescriptions:

The discovery that a competing brand-name drug or generic substitute is significantly less costly will likely convince some beneficiaries to ask their physicians about the appropriateness of a switch, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said at a briefing.

“Nobody compares prices better than our seniors,” he remarked.

My take? I’m all for it. I highly encourage patients to empower themselves about their health care and medication decisions, and come to a shared decision with their physician.