Obama praises drug deal, says it's 'turning point'

I take it, the copyeditor is off today. Hell, running the spellchecker would have helped. Story here.

Jun 20th, 2009 | WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama praised the agreement has been reached between Senator Max Baucus and the nation's pharmaceutical companies intended to rerduce costs of prescription drugs for millions of America's seniors.

He called it "a turning point" in the nation's efforts to change health care.

Obama praised the Montana Democrat Saturday for the deal to extend discounts on prescription drugs to millions of seniors who currently are subjected to heavy out-of-pocket expenses in the yearly amounts they can pay for medication.

Baucus has been negotiating with numerous industry groups for weeks as he tries to draft legislation that meets Obama's goals.

Baucus' announcement said drug companies would pay half of the cost of brand-name drugs for seniors in the so-called doughnut hole -- a gap in coverage that is a feature of many of the plans providing prescription coverage under Medicare.

Why is there a "doughnut hole" at all?