Whenever government gets involved, prices always go up.

Surprise! Medicare's drug benefit gets a mega markup
USA Today OpEd Original Article

A rule of thumb in government is that new programs almost always cost more than politicians predict. So it should come as no surprise that the new Medicare prescription-drug benefit will cost taxpayers more than originally advertised. When the plan to help seniors cope with skyrocketing drug costs passed Congress in 2003, the advertised price was $400 billion over 10 years. Two months later, the Bush administration “revised” the estimate to $534 billion. Now, Medicare officials project the cost to be $724 billion from 2006 to 2015, its first full decade.