Fwd: Medicare Drug Cards Dissected

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" luckypig "

Mon, 29 Mar 2004 11:47:58 -0500

Medicare Drug Cards Dissected

 

PAY ATTENTION AND READ THIS CAREFULLY ....

 

Drug Cards Dissected

 

 

By David Sirota, Christy Harvey and Judd Legum, The Progress Report

March 26, 2004

 

The government announced yesterday the names of the 28 private companies

picked to provide prescription drug cards to Medicare recipients beginning this

June. The prescription cards purport to provide seniors with discounts on their

medications. However, no such discount is guaranteed, and the legislation may

help pharmaceutical and insurance companies a lot more than the elderly. Little

wonder: Remember, the legislation was crafted by the head of one of the

companies chosen to provide the card, Bush crony and AdvancePCS chief David

Halbert. The 28 private companies, also including such heavy hitters as United

Healthcare, Caremark, Aetna, and Express Scripts along with AdvancePCS, worked

hard to ensure the law would be in their favor. According to the Center for

Responsive Politics, the top groups donated well over $150,000 directly to

President Bush and Congress since 2000 and Aetna, United Healthcare and

Wellpoint alone have spent over $3.25 million to lobby for their interests.

See this American Progress examination of how privatization threatens Medicare.

 

So who are these companies the White House is entrusting with caring for the

nation's seniors? One is Medco, a company which has faced lawsuits over market

manipulation in the past for " failing to disclose the extent of their financial

ties with manufacturers. " AdvancePCS, a company in which President Bush himself

was an original investor, was sued last year, accused of " not only 'illicitly

diverting' seniors from its drug-discount plan, but of actually putting them at

risk for potentially dangerous drug interactions. " Both were listed in a federal

lawsuit along with Caremark and Express Scripts for engaging in

" anti-competitive practices " which harmed pharmacies, for entering into " secret

deals with drug manufacturers...in return for 'kickbacks' and other 'undisclosed

incentives.' "

 

So where has the AARP been during all of this? Although the AARP is ostensibly

a group dedicated to protecting the rights of seniors, the group shocked its

members when it supported the drug legislation last November. Now it turns out

there may have been a financial windfall in play: AARP is affiliated with - and

receives " marketing royalties " from - United Health Care, one of the major

companies the Administration included in the drug card program.

 

The theory behind the discount cards is that companies " will have greater

bargaining power with drug makers " the more they enroll Medicare beneficiaries.

But why use a middle man? Bowing to pressure from the powerful pharmaceutical

lobby, which feared for its bottom line, Congress specifically banned Medicare

from using bulk purchasing power to negotiate lower prices. Instead, the

Medicare population was splintered into these smaller groups run by private

companies, thus giving them considerably less influence.

 

The law does not require the drug card companies to pass the savings along to

customers instead of keeping profits for themselves. They don't even have to

guarantee a specific level of savings for seniors. And drug companies have gone

out of their way this past year to ensure their profits will stay nice and fat:

The Wall Street Journal reports companies jacked up prices for drugs most

popular with the elderly " nearly 3.5 times faster on average than overall

inflation " in the past year since the cards were announced, already eroding any

potential savings. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) is trying to ensure seniors get some

of the discount; he introduced a bill yesterday which would guarantee that

beneficiaries receive at least 90% of any discounts.

 

Another massive problem with the cards: Seniors are locked into only one card.

However, card companies have much more flexibility and aren't required to return

the loyalty to clients. Right now, companies are allowed to change the list of

drugs they offer every seven days, as well as the size of the discounts, and

there is no oversight mechanism in place to stop that from happening. Ron

Pollack, of the watchdog group Families USA, fears cards will offer giant

savings on popular medicines, then, after seniors sign up, greatly reduce the

savings or stop covering the drug altogether. " The potential for bait-and-switch

is enormous. "

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=18248