Medicare Reform - Prescription Drug Commentary By Judith Stein and Alfred Chiplin

BUSH'S PROPOSED MEDICARE DRUG BENEFIT: NOTHING TO SWALLOW

The President’s latest proposal to provide prescription drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries leaves a bitter taste. For beneficiaries who elect to remain in the original fee-for-service Medicare program, the plan offers only a token. The President proposes a discount drug card, coupled with an undefined catastrophic benefit and a subsidy of up to $600 a year for low income beneficiaries. Those who want more will need to choose a private health plan. This approach is insensitive to the true plight of seniors who all need new health-sustaining and life-saving drugs.

The whole thing is quite cynical," said the Center for Medicare Advocacy’s executive director Judith Stein, "Medicare beneficiaries - all of them - need a real benefit. Unfortunately, President Bush again proposes to split the Medicare community apart and offer a better benefit to those who will leave the traditional program for a private health plan.

This is short-sighted and ignores the reality that private health plans do not want to treat Medicare beneficiaries, particularly those with costly medical conditions," continued Stein. "In fact, the private Medicare managed care market has been increasingly unstable, with plans defecting in great numbers, resulting in a largely failed experiment in the privatization of Medicare. Why is the President pretending this is a successful, innovative model worth expanding?"

Moreover, asserts Vicki Gottlich, an attorney in the Washington, DC office of the Center for Medicare Advocacy: "The discount idea is not new. Discount cards abound on the internet and through local pharmacies, and often provide discounts of 20-40%. The President suggested such a discount card as a temporary measure months ago. Now it’s all he offers to those who have learned to be suspicious of private health plans and want to stay in the traditional Medicare program.

Once again, the Bush administration has proposed another slick vehicle to ride the political waves while avoiding the stubborn fact that a real prescription drug benefit is what’s needed. Once again this plan fails to offer a foundation for a stable and adequately funded prescription benefit that will truly enhance the Medicare program for all beneficiaries."

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Judith Stein is available for interviews at (860) 456-7790
Vicki Gottlich is available for interviews at (202)293-5760