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Two
Articles on this subject below:
Medicare-Run Rx Drug
Plan Proposed
Bill Would Create Nationwide
Government Drug Plan Alongside Existing Part D Options
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Seniors would have
the option of a Medicare-run prescription drug plan under
a bill introduced Tuesday by Democrats in Congress.
The bill sets up a new version of the
prescription drug program -- known as Part D -- that would
be run by the government, along with the private insurance
companies carrying the program. Seniors would have the
option of sticking with a private plan or using the one
run by the government.
Backers of the bill say it will cut
down on confusion on the part of seniors perplexed by the
dozens of private Part D choices in each state.
"It’s actually quite simple, our
seniors understand it, and it’s nationwide," says Rep.
Marion Berry, D-Ark. "You get the same care in California
as you get in Arkansas," says Berry, who is also a
pharmacist.
Democrats have criticized Part D
ever since it passed the Republican-led Congress in 2003.
They have called for a repeal to the part of the law that
prohibits Medicare from negotiating directly with
pharmaceutical manufacturers for lower drug prices.
Tuesday’s bill would allow those
negotiations and would also mandate that Medicare lower
its administrative costs.
Rep. Jan Schakowski, D-Ill., another
of the bill’s sponsors, says seniors are about to be
"deluged" with insurance company promotions when Part D’s
2008 enrollment period begins Nov. 15.
"There will be 194 different private
Part D plans" in Illinois, Schakowski says.
Several consumer groups and unions
lent their support to the bill.
"We do recognize the need for a
simple, programmatic solution," says Robert Hayes,
director of the Medicare Rights Center, a beneficiary
advocacy group.
Congress is considering Medicare
legislation, and Democrats may try to alter the Part D
plan as part of the package. It is unlikely, however, that
President Bush would sign such legislation.
Rep. Phil English, R-Pa., a member
of the health subcommittee controlling Medicare, says the
Democrats’ plan won’t work.
"It reduces no confusion at all
because the other [private] process still goes forward,"
English tells WebMD.
English says Democrats are trying to
find ways to add a "big government" solution to Medicare
Part D
Legislation would create
alternative to privately run Medicare Plan D
JOHN ANDERSON
Bulletin Staff Writer
http://www.baxterbulletin.com
Legislation not enacted by the
previous Congress, which would allow a
Medicare-administered prescription drug plan as an
alternative to privately run Medicare Part D plans, was
reintroduced Tuesday by Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., and two
Illinois Democrats.
Berry teamed with Rep. Jan
Schakowsky of Illinois' Ninth Congressional District to
introduce the bill in the House while Sen. Dick Durbin
introduced the bill on the other side of the Capitol.
"This legislation will provide
seniors with the option of choosing between a
Medicare-operated or privately run plan that creates
competition, giving seniors a potentially cheaper
alternative they already know and trust," Berry said.
The three politicians announced a
new effort to enact the proposal armed with a new report
by the Medicare Rights Center and Consumers Union.
The report faults privately run
Medicare Plan D for causing higher drug prices,
instability and consumer confusion and leaving gaps where
those paying Plan D premiums are not covered for needed
medicines.
Like a recent report by the House
Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the latest
report shows the Veterans Administration is more effective
at negotiating lower drug prices than Plan D providers.
The report "proves that we need to
give the Secretary of Health and Human Services the power
to negotiate on behalf of seniors, instead of giving the
private insurance and pharmaceutical companies control
over drug prices so they can maximize their profits,"
Berry said.
Instability in private prescription
drug plans occurs when the competing plans make changes
from year to year according to market pressures, according
to the report.
The report claims the large numbers
of options create a confusing decision for seniors.
Additionally, the report says deceptive marketing of the
plans including outright fraud have added to the
confusion. Fraud, allegedly including a salesperson
dressing as a nurse to convince one Arkansas senior to
sign up for a specific plan, led Arkansas Attorney General
Dustin McDaniel to issue a consumer alert in August.
According to the report, gaps in
coverage include plans that don't pay for certain drugs
and plans that are exhausted for the year after a maximum
benefit is reached.
The proposed legislation, the
Medicare Drug Savings and Choice Act, would not put an end
to private Plan D prescription coverage, but it would
offer one or more government-run alternatives. The bill
also requires private insurers to pay pharmacists' claims
within 14 days.
johna@baxterbulletin.com |
