Consumer Union says Medicare bill threatens the program's viability

[Karmadillo]

This is a few days old, but I haven't seen it posted here. The full analysis is 42 pages. You have to give credit to the liberal media for pretty much covering up the bill's negative impact.

http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_health_care/000664.html

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∙ The funds set aside for this “benefit” -- $400 billion over 10 years -- covers just 22 percent of the anticipated drug costs, leaving consumers to foot the rest of the bill.

∙ Medicare is being moved down the road to privatization by requiring competition between private health plans and Medicare in up to six metro areas without requiring private plans to demonstrate cost savings that result from efficiency. Rather, the proposal provides additional subsidies to these private plans and allows them to benefit financially by cherry-picking the healthiest members.

∙ Private Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) get to pick what drugs are covered under the plan, with no transparency, methodology or public accountability. This means patients who are sensitive to the choice of drug will be out of luck if their needed drug is not on the plan. It also means drug coverage will vary between different parts of the country.

∙ And most important, a provision that actually prohibits the government from negotiating deep prescription drug discounts for consumers, meaning the average Medicare beneficiary will pay more out-of-pocket for drugs in 2007 when the benefit begins, then what they currently pay now without the “benefit.” Consider this: the average Medicare recipient in 2003 who spends $2,318 a year for drugs without prescription drug coverage will pay $2,911 out-of-pocket in four years under the plan if drug costs continue their historical increase.

“It is nothing short of tragic that legislation that was meant to offer relief from high prescription drug costs to seniors is laden down with so many dangerous provisions that it will harm Medicare beneficiaries and threaten the program’s long-term viability,” said Gail Shearer, senior health policy analyst for Consumers Union and author of the analysis.

more...

[whathappened]

1. had a gut feeling

if jr. was involved this thing would go south on us fast , can't he do anything right in life

[moondust]

2. Seniors know they're getting the shaft.

Repugs don't care.

Since private companies "need" to be bribed into participating in the unprofitable coverage of seniors, the companies that do end up doing it will likely outsource a lot of it "in order to make a profit" and eventually adopt the attitude that "you're lucky to get anything, old man" which will condition seniors into accepting ever less and less.

It may actually be designed to fail so that Repugs can to proceed to Phase II: total elimination. "We tried. It's no use."

[flpoljunkie]

3. This bill is a colossal ripoff of Medicare recipients as well as taxpayers

It is an egregious giveaway to the pharmaceutical and managed care companies. It is not free market capitalism, it is corporate crony capitalism--a big time payoff to Bush's campaign contributors.