Fixing the Medicare prescription drug legislation forced through Congress in 2003 should be a priority for President Bush and lawmakers from both parties.

So far, it hasn’t been.

But Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, along with Democrat Sens Ron Wyden and Dianne Feinstein, is working to mend the biggest flaw with the drug law: It prohibits the government from negotiating with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices.

It’s a tremendous problem that adds to the law’s ever-climbing costs and to the country’s budget troubles. And it can be fixed. The Department of Veterans Affairs successfully negotiates for lower drug prices for its clients. So should Medicare.

The Medicare Enhancement for Needed Drugs, with the nifty acronym MEND, would give the secretary of Health and Human Services the power to bargain for better drug prices. The prohibition against negotiations was part of the original law’s payout to big drug companies, but the payola should be thwarted before the full benefits of the law take effect.

If Congress and the president really care about controlling future budget deficits and providing needed prescription drug benefits to Medicare recipients, they will move Snowe’s legislation to the top of the calendar and pass it quickly. If they don’t, then we’ll know that the drug industry still has more influence than common sense.