Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit              

Millions of older and disabled Americans are going without necessary medical care because they cannot afford prescription drugs. In 2001, one in three Americans with Medicare has no prescription drug coverage at all, and millions more have only limited coverage. We hear from hundreds of disabled and older Americans who cannot pay for their medications and are forced to go without necessary, and often life-saving, treatment. They are skipping physician-recommended doses or not filling prescriptions at all.

To date, the federal government's efforts to encourage the private marketplace to meet the medical needs of older Americans and the disabled have failed. There is no comprehensive prescription drug coverage available at any price to people with Medicare. Insurance policies that supplement Medicare offer only limited prescription coverage at prices that are unaffordable to many. And, Medicare HMOs are offering limited prescription coverage at best, only providing coverage to 15 percent of people enrolled in Medicare, pulling out of communities across the nation, and are not even an option for 13 million people.

There are a number of proposals before Congress that would include prescription drug coverage as part of Original Medicare.

Take Action! Write a letter to your members of Congress asking them to expand Medicare to cover prescription drugs.

Find contact information for your Representative and Senators

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