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Bad Deal for Seniors…Bad Deal for Medicare According to Greek mythology, the Greeks waged a fruitless war against the City of Troy. Unable to penetrate the fortified walls of the city, they hatched a new strategy. Within a large hollow wooden horse, presented as a gift, the Greeks hid the seeds that would sow the destruction of Troy.
Providing a real comprehensive prescription drug benefit and lowering prescription drug prices have been my top priorities since joining Congress. I entered into this debate leading the fight to do just that, and nothing would have pleased me more! But in the end, I was forced to lead the fight to protect Medicare itself. Medicare has been a great American success story because it has brought dependable, affordable health care to millions of seniors and the disabled. Beneficiaries can choose their own doctors and they know that regardless of where they live, they will pay the same premiums and co-payments for care. Under this bill, all of that will change. Starting in 2010, it forces seniors and the disabled in demonstration areas to choose between HMOs, private insurance, and their traditional Medicare plan. Because of the way it is designed, Medicare costs will actually go up and the program will begin to be dismantled. At least seniors and the disabled get a good prescription drug benefit, right? Wrong. About 30 percent of beneficiaries will receive substantial help, and that is great. The other 70 percent will receive very little – or actually pay more! First, there’s a large gap in coverage; the government provides no assistance for costs between $2,250 and $5,100. However, you must continue to pay the premium of about $35. This means a person with $5,100 in prescription costs will still pay about $4,020. It gets worse. About 2.8 million low-income beneficiaries won’t even qualify for the much-touted financial assistance, and millions will actually receive less coverage than before because the bill ends additional assistance from Medicaid. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, 2.7 million seniors stand to lose wrap around coverage from their employers because of the way the law is written, which means as many as one in four Michigan retirees could lose their existing employer-provided prescription drug plan. That’s about 143,000 people. This is simply unacceptable! Moreover, instead of lowering prices, the bill actually raises prices! It excludes a provision to permit American pharmacies to re-import FDA-approved drugs from Canada, a provision I have fought tirelessly to include because it could reduce drug costs by at least 50 percent. To add insult to injury, Medicare is stopped from using its large pool
of beneficiaries to negotiate good deals – never mind that the
Veterans Administration has been doing this for years. No one benefits
from this except the drug companies. The Trojan horse may have destroyed Troy, but here it only means opponents of Medicare have won a battle, not the war.
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2.7
million retirees lose private health care coverage
(143,000 in Michigan)