Asclepios
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Reversing Course
November 9, 2006 • Volume 6, Issue 45One of the principal campaign pledges of the Democrats who won control of the House and the Senate in this week's election is to give people with Medicare the choice of receiving prescription drug coverage directly through Medicare, rather than strictly through middlemen-the private insurance companies that now run Part D.
It's vital that they keep that promise.
It's important because it will greatly improve prescription drug coverage that people with Medicare receive. With a Medicare-administered drug benefit, the federal government can negotiate lower prices on behalf of the 43 million people with Medicare. No Part D plan has that negotiating leverage. Several studies have shown that the savings from those lower prices can fill the "doughnut hole," the nonsensical gap in the Part D benefit that cuts off coverage when people need it most. And a Medicare drug benefit will provide the simplicity, stability and peace of mind that older Americans and people with disabilities deserve and have come to expect from Medicare. It will be there for them year to year, while the private plans come and go and change benefits.
It's also important because a Medicare drug benefit will mark the first step in reversing policies that use the Medicare program to enrich pharmaceutical manufacturers and insurance companies at the expense of taxpayers and people with Medicare. The law that gave us Part D not only prohibited Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices, it funneled billions in subsidies to insurance companies for providing coverage that the Medicare program can provide for less money. The outgoing Congress turned Medicare-a national treasure for generations of Americans-into a cash cow for HMOs and drugmakers. The new Congress needs to stop this raid on the U.S. Treasury.
The push for a Medicare drug benefit will test the new Congress' mettle. Drugmakers will scratch and claw to keep their high prices; HMOs will bury their snouts deeper in the Medicare trough. A swarm of lobbyists will descend on Capitol Hill and a flock of new advertisements will try to scare older Americans. The influence of money on Capitol Hill is bipartisan.
We will need to rally behind this effort, buck up our representatives when they falter and counter the lies and deceptions that seek to undermine the American public's support. If the new Congress can pass a real Medicare drug benefit, it will show they have the resolve to stand up to special interests and corporate greed.
Medical Record
“Under Democratic reform proposals, the Medicare program would be empowered to negotiate for discounts on behalf of beneficiaries, reducing overall drug costs by an estimated 25%...[T]he total savings for beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare drug plans are estimated to be $4.3 billion annually. Over a ten-year period, the total savings for Medicare beneficiaries would be an estimated $61 billion” (“Benefits of Proposed Democratic Medicare Drug Program Reforms,” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform-Minority Staff, October 2006).
A survey published this summer found that only 30 percent of older adults thought that the Part D benefit was well-designed, and 74.7 percent said their experience with Part D made them less satisfied with the political process in Washington. In addition, 77 percent said that “it would have been better to provide drug insurance automatically as part of Medicare” (“Who Failed to Enroll in Medicare Part D, and Why? Early Results,” Health Affairs, August 1, 2006).
“I was prescribed a medication for my osteoporosis several years ago and it made me quite ill. After trial and error with other drugs, I found another medication, which agreed with me and actually improved my bone density. Before Part D, I paid $30 for my prescription. With Part D, the price is $60. The drug that made me ill is the preferred drug on my plan's list and there is nothing I can do to get the medication that works better for me, even if I can't tolerate the other one. I wrote to my plan and received a form letter telling me to take the medication that makes me ill” (Story submitted to the Part D Monitoring Project, Medicare Rights Center, August 11, 2006).
***** The Medicare Rights Center (MRC) needs to hear about all the problems with the Medicare Part D benefit, whether they happen to you or someone in your community. With this information, we will be armed with the needed evidence to push for a Medicare-administered drug benefit.
Fast Relief: Part D Monitoring Project
Submit your story at www.medicarerights.org/partdstories.html
*****
The Louder Our Voice, the Stronger Our Message Asclepios — named for the Greek and Roman god of medicine who, acclaimed for his healing abilities, was at one point the most worshipped god in Greece—is a weekly e-newsletter designed to keep you up-to-date with Medicare program and policy issues, and advance advocacy strategies to address them. Please help build awareness of key Medicare consumer issues by forwarding this action alert to your friends and encouraging them to subscribe today.
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