AARP and Families USA are screaming about rising prescription drug prices, without and within Medicare Part D. The New York Times is calling for price controls on drugs purchased under Part D.

A 2004 study by the Manhattan Institute estimated that applying the type of price controls found in Medicaid and the Veterans Health Administration to Medicare would reduce pharmaceutical R&D by nearly 40 percent and reduce Americans’ aggregate lifespans by 277 million life-years.

In other words, the logic of “negotiating drug prices” is that everyone under the age of 65 should die one year sooner so 42 million geezers (sorry, Dad) can save a few bucks on Lipitor. But is the logic of opposing price controls that workers should have to pay through the nose to pump these geezers full of drugs?

Part D puts us all in a no-win situation: either pay up and bankrupt the nation or control prices, suppress R&D, and prepare to check out early. It is a trap, set by the Left and sprung by the GOP.

That’s why — if the repeal train has left the station — the only sane option left is a radical overhaul of the entire program. With a little luck, Republicans will come to see the box in which they have put themselves and rediscover their interest in Medicare reform.