George Bush's position on

Prescription Drug Prices: Signed December 8, 2003, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, establishes a new optional Medicare prescription drug benefit. Of the seniors who are eligible though, The Associated Press reported that of the 7 million poor seniors who are eligible for the card and a $600 subsidy, only 1.3 million (19%) have actually signed up to receive the discount. And as widely reported, total enrollment-counting both poor and non-poor-is at 4.4 million, and over half of those were enrolled automatically by heath maintenance organizations. The overall total is still 3 million shy of the number the administration predicted would be enrolled by the end of 2004. Seniors complain the cards are confusing, and healthcare advocates fault the Department of Health and Human Services for failing to effectively publicize the program.

George Bush:

Description of Candidate's Position: Beginning in January 2006, all beneficiaries will be able to sign up for prescription drug coverage under Medicare. The original bill, signed into legislation in December 2003, will provide help to low-income seniors with high prescription bills but will also provide savings to other seniors who sign up for the plan. Drug coverage will be available to 40 million seniors and persons with disabilities. For those with very large drug bills the new benefit provides catastrophic coverage that pays 95% of all drug costs above $5,100. Beneficiaries who choose to sign up for the new drug benefit will pay a monthly premium, estimated to be $35 per month beginning in 2006. Beneficiaries will be responsible for the first $250 in drug expenses, and then will pay, on average, a 25 percent coinsurance until they reach the benefit limit ($2,250 in 2006). Once they reach the benefit limit, they will face a gap in coverage in which they will pay 100 percent of their drug costs up to $5,100 in total drug spending (equal to $3,600 in out-of-pocket spending). Medicare will then pay 95 percent of drug costs above that amount.

Quotation from the Candidate: "After years of debate and deadlock and delay, both Houses of Congress are nearing final passage of the biggest improvements in senior health care in 40 years. We're on the verge of giving seniors prescription drug coverage, expanded coverage for preventative maintenance of medicine and therapy, and more health care choices. Members of Congress say they support these Medicare reforms. Now it's time for a final vote. Members of Congress must resolve their remaining differences. The House and the Senate must resolve their differences and get a bill to me. For the sake of America's seniors, I call on the United States Congress to get the job done." -President George W. Bush, November 13, 2003

Assessment of the Proposal:

Positive: Derek Hunter, a Research Assistant in the Center for Health Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation states that America's senior citizens now have the opportunity to compare drug prices online at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and get to see how big of a discount they will receive seeing it as a first step toward empowering America's seniors. Hunter claims that many major drug companies including Merck, Novartis, and Pfizer, plus others, have announced their intention to offer their products either at no charge or for a very small fee once low-income seniors spend their $600 subsidy for medications. "Beyond direct financial assistance, the new drug card program could also serve as a forum for consumer organizations, senior citizens' organizations, disease-related groups, and religious and faith-based groups to monitor, evaluate, and rate competing drug discount card programs not only on price, but also on the quality and service of these plans in providing ease of access to prescription drugs."

Negative: Henry J. Aaron, Senior Fellow of Economic Studies at the Brookings Institute claims that the new Medicare coverage of prescription drugs is taking many steps backwards. Aaron states that this is not the last chance for a prescription drug benefit package, but that most members of congress were frantic to pass a drug bill before the election. The chosen plan, Aaron believes will only widen the long term fiscal gap. "The conference committee bill would declare the whole Medicare program to be in financial crisis any time general revenues were projected to finance more than 45 percent of the total cost of the program (including the costs of the new drug benefit) for two of the next seven years." Because legislators felt they had to be quick to sign some sort of prescription drug benefit before the election, they may mot have taken the time necessary to go over the bill and all of its possible downfalls.

Comparison: Under the current Medicare plan approved by the President, seniors and persons with disabilities will have the chance to receive discounts on the medications. Beneficiaries, quoted by Bush, have the potential to save up to $1,100 in the next seven months with the plan. Under Kerry's proposal, the plan would be drastically altered. Patients would have the chance to get drugs from other countries, starting with Canada and would ensure low cost drugs while ending the barriers placed on generic drug competition. Bush's proposal would not cover drugs purchased outside of the United States.

Link to John Kerry's brief on prescription drugs

Sources:

The Medicare Drug Discount Card: First Phase of a Market Revolution

http://www.heritage.org/Research/HealthCare/hl846.cfm

Bill Summery Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:HR00001:@@@D&summ2=m&

Bush Website: A plan for helping American families in a changing world

http://www.georgewbush.com/agenda/chapter.aspx?ID=2

The Prescription Drug Bill: Many Steps Backward

http://www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/aaron/20031121.htm

Bush: New Medicare price tag means tough choices

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/30/white.house.medicare/index.html