Nation in brief

White House to monitor prescription drug prices

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration said Wednesday it would monitor the prices of prescription drugs bought by Medicare beneficiaries to ensure they are not overcharged when they start using drug discount cards in June.

Medicare officials estimate 7.3-million of the 40-million beneficiaries will sign up for the cards, to be offered by private companies with a federal seal of approval.

Under a rule issued Wednesday, a beneficiary can select one card and generally will be locked into that choice, with one change allowed at the end of 2004. The sponsors of drug cards will be allowed to change their prices and the list of covered drugs weekly.

To avoid price gouging and "bait and switch" tactics, the Medicare agency said it would monitor drug price changes. In general, price increases for people using the discount card cannot exceed the amount that would be expected, based on changes in wholesale prices and other costs.

Sponsors of the new drug cards will have to report drug prices to the government and post them on Web sites. Tim Trysla, a Medicare official, said if a company lured people with low prices and then charged much higher prices, Medicare could revoke its endorsement, freeze enrollment or impose civil fines.

Winter isn't officially due for two weeks, but it sent a calling card, hitting the Plains with heavy, wet snow and strong wind.

The snowfall reached from the northern Plains and upper Midwest to Oklahoma and Missouri.

Ten inches of snow piled up in Lincoln in eastern Nebraska and wind gusting to 40 mph whipped up blizzard-like conditions, closing schools and briefly knocking out power. At least one death, in central Kansas, was blamed on icy roads.

WASHINGTON - Ford Motor Co.'s new F-150 pickup did poorly on bumper crash tests performed by the insurance industry, requiring an average of $1,500 in repairs in each of four tests.

In results released today, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety also gave the 2004 Ford Freestar minivan its second-lowest bumper crash rating. The Freestar required an average of $700 in repairs on each of the four tests.

Ford said Wednesday the tests aren't related to the safety of either vehicle.

"(The institute's) tests may not be representative of the type of damage that occurs in real world situations," Ford spokesman Glenn Ray said.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Lee Boyd Malvo was legally insane during last year's sniper shootings because of intense indoctrination by sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad, a defense psychiatrist testified Wednesday at Malvo's trial.

"Lee was unable to distinguish between right and wrong and was unable to resist the impulse" to commit the killings, said Neil Blumberg, who examined Malvo 20 times in jail. "From day one, I thought he met the legal criteria for insanity."

CLINTON, Ill. - A woman and her boyfriend were charged with first-degree murder Wednesday in the deaths of her three children, who drowned when their car plunged into a lake in September in what initially looked like a tragic accident.

Maurice Lagrone Jr., 28, and Amanda Hamm, 27, were charged with three counts of first-degree murder for each death. They were arrested separately Tuesday and were being held on $5-million bail.

SAN FRANCISCO ELECTS MAYOR: Gavin Newsom, a wealthy businessman, city supervisor and protege of outgoing Mayor Willie Brown, benefited from the Democrats' get-out-the-vote effort to win Tuesday's San Francisco mayoral race against Green Party candidate Matt Gonzalez, the Board of Supervisors president. Newsom beat Gonzalez 53 percent to 47 percent.

PRESIDENTIAL ENDORSEMENTS: Andrew Young, a civil rights trailblazer and former U.N. ambassador, plans to endorse Wesley Clark on Dec. 21. Also, Rep. Jim Clyburn, one of the most influential figures in the key primary state of South Carolina, has endorsed Dick Gephardt.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright