Medicare Part D

Medicare Part D

The prescription drug program has turned out to be a complicated boondoggle which appears to primarily help the insurance industry and the drug companies. It needs a major overhaul.

We Have to Fix Medicare Part D

One of the first things I will do if elected is work to overhaul Medicare Part D, the so-called Prescription Drug Benefit. Those of you who are not seniors may not be aware of the fear, confusion, and bureaucratic nightmare that this flawed legislation has visited on Medicare recipients.

Many volunteers, advocacy organizations (CARA, AARP, etc.) and thousands of concerned social workers, pharmacists, and health care workers are devoting countless hours trying to help our seniors make sense out of the welter of different choices they face. There are 47 different plans being offered. Each has different ‘tiers,' that is, different price packages depending on which drugs are used and which pharmacy the drugs are purchased from. Then there is the ‘Donut hole.' Someone who spends more than $2250 on drugs will get no discount on any purchases between $2250 and $5100.

I have a PH.D in mathematics, and I can't make sense of the jumble of options and consequences that face people. Not only is this program confusing; it is also perilous. Seniors are told they must choose a plan by May 15, 2006, or they will pay an enrollment penalty that will add 1% to their purchases for the rest of their lives! At the same time, signing up for a plan could cost MediCAL recipients access to drug benefits which are much better than anything offered in Part D. Seniors enrolled in other health care programs could lose their superior coverage as well.

We have to put the brakes on, sort the confusing options out, and stop punishing people for moving at their own pace. We can make the existing program work better than it does now, but I believe we will eventually need to do a major overhaul. Dean Baker, Ph.D, working with the Center for Economic and Policy Research, argues that we are going about the problem of reducing drug prices all wrong. The confusion is the result of relying on large numbers of private insurers, each with their own bottom line in mind. If we allowed Medicare to handle the program directly, and permitted it to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices, Dr. Baker estimates we would save $600 billion over the next six years.

Our present Republican-dominated federal government is captive to the special interests of big pharmaceutical companies and appears incapable of using common sense to solve problems. Medicare is an excellent program. It has low administrative costs and would make all of this much simpler and more efficient. I strongly believe this is the best way to go.

http://jerrymcnerney.org/issues/medicare.asp