Perspective               

GOP Rx Proposal is Bad News

Watch out! Republican proposals for adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare may leave you out of the picture. The GOP plan is underfunded; it would only offer inexpensive coverage to a small number of people with Medicare; and it would be unaffordable to many others. Instead of offering voluntary and comprehensive drug coverage to every person with Medicare, Congressional Republicans propose to help only some people with low-incomes and high drug costs. And, then, only if they go through a lot of hoops. It is not a proposal that expands Medicare. Medicare is for everyone over 65 and with a disability.

Congressional Republicans would like health insurance companies to provide prescription drug coverage to everyone else. But, Chip Kahn, president of the Health Insurance Association of America says this is not likely. Private health insurance companies would not make money selling prescription drug policies to people who use a lot of prescription drugs unless they charged high premiums that few, if any, could afford.

Older and disabled Americans need immediate relief from rising prescription drug costs. A new study by Families USA shows that prices for medicines used by seniors have risen at twice the rate of inflation over the last six years. Providing drug coverage through private health insurance companies is not the answer today, and it was not the answer thirty-five years ago when Medicare was started to give health insurance to older and disabled Americans who couldn't get it from private insurance companies.

Original Medicare must be expanded to include a prescription drug benefit for everyone. With the surplus we now have in the federal budget, our nation can afford it and older and disabled Americans need and deserve it. Tell your Senator or Congressperson to add a voluntary prescription drug benefit to Medicare that everyone can have.

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