Medicare Cards

[Guest guest]

The Progresive.

 

 

 

MEDICARE

Hold On To Your Teeth, Gladys

 

President Bush traveled to Liberty, MO, on the tax-payer's dime yesterday in an

effort to promote the beleaguered prescription drug card program. Attempting to

sidestep criticism, he offered up a couple of seniors to tout the program,

including Gladys Cole, who said, " I about dropped my false teeth " after learning

about the program. Hold on to your teeth, Gladys; the messy drug card program is

riddled with confusing details and features which do more to protect corporate

interests than the medical needs of seniors. Even President Bush acknowledged

the program was troubled; a move surprising in an administration loath to admit

mistakes, he admitted there were concerns with his prescription drug program,

saying, " we've got some problems. "

 

THE PROBLEMS: In short, these are some of the top problems to which the

president may have been referring: a) After signing up for a card, seniors are

locked into it, while the drug companies are allowed to change prices as often

as once a week; b) instead of acting to keep companies from changing benefits

frequently, the White House is crossing its fingers. Leslie Norwalk, who

oversees the drug program, said, " I suspect it may [happen] but I hope not

often. " Many of these companies the administration has decided to trust have

been charged at the federal and/or state level with fraud; c) studies show

seniors can find cheaper drugs without using the cards; d) the system is

confusing, with 73 different cards all covering different medications and

constantly changing benefits; e) drug card companies have already begun jacking

up prices to offset the discount; and f) the complicated system provides an

ideal atmosphere for fraud, as unscrupulous con artists can manipulate the

confusion

to swindle seniors.

 

SENIORS AREN'T BUYING IT: Most seniors are reacting to the drug cards with

apathy. The White House predicted that 7 million people would sign up for a card

by December 2004. The LA Times, however, writes, " Faced with confusing red tape

and an array of choices, only about 3.3 million of Medicare's 42 million

beneficiaries have enrolled in the program. " Of those, " fewer than one-third of

them have deliberately signed up; the rest were enrolled automatically by

private health plans to which they belong. " According to AARP spokesman Steve

Hahn, " People are having a tough time…They are a bit confused, and they are

getting overwhelmed with information. " While about 49,000 people have contacted

AARP to request information about [AARP's] card, only 5,900 have actually signed

up.

 

DRUGS OR FOOD?: One egregious aspect of the prescription drug cards was

overturned late last week. Under Agriculture Department policy, poor seniors who

signed up for the Medicare prescription drug card and the $600 credit could lose

their food stamps. A memo last March underscored this, saying food stamp

recipients " may not claim a medical deduction for the cost of any prescriptions

they receive free through use of the card. " The White House revised this policy

Friday, saying, " New benefits … cannot take away any existing federal benefits. "

 

REIMPORTATION STEPS: The Medicare bill, under the influence of the powerful

prescription drug lobby, blocked Medicare from using bulk purchasing power to

negotiate lower prices from the pharmaceutical companies. (The huge advantages

in savings have been detailed by American Progress.) At the same time, the

administration has resisted allowing seniors to import less-expensive

medications from Canada. Yesterday, however, a bill to allow prescription drug

imports narrowly cleared the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on

agriculture. The new proposal " would prevent the FDA from spending funds to bar

imports such as those from Canada. "