"Millions of people with respiratory diseases have relied on oxygen equipment, delivered to their homes, to help them breathe. A basic setup, including three years of deliveries of small oxygen tanks, can be bought from pharmacies and other retailers for as little as $3,500, or about $100 a month.

Unless, that is, the buyer is Medicare, the government health care program for older Americans.

Despite enormous buying power, Medicare pays far more. Rather than buy oxygen equipment outright, Medicare rents it for 36 months before patients take ownership, and pays for a variety of services that critics say are often unnecessary.

The total cost to taxpayers and patients is as much as $8,280, or more than double what somebody might spend at a drugstore.

...

Medicare spends billions of dollars each year on products and services that are available at far lower prices from retail pharmacies and online stores, according to an analysis of federal data by The New York Times. The government agency has paid above-market costs for dozens of items, a comparison of Medicare figures with retail catalogs finds."

I've found the Hugo Chávez saga in Venezuela to be at times pretty interesting, but often sad, and really, kind of predictable. Not that long ago it seems I was running into people who liked him, maybe just because he's a head of state who called Bush a "devil," maybe because I was in art school in SF where everyone's far left... but now it's good to see evidence of resistance gaining strength, just before he attempts to become president for life. NY Times had a long article in the magazine written by someone a lot more friendly to the idea of nationalized industries than me and you can see how it was basically impossible for the author to frame Chávez's petrocracy in positive light.
He's ruining that country.