Medicare price controls: like ordering a Diet Coke with your Big Mac and fries

Paul Howard of the Manhattan Institute's Center for Medical Progress writes today,

[P]olicymakers who are serious about controlling costs (and not providing a fig leaf for future spending) need to put much more purchasing power directly into the hands of Medicare patients. Negotiations and pricing schedules may seem attractive politically, but in the long run they are the equivalent of ordering a Diet Coke to go with your Big Mac and fries.