HOUSE AND SENATE DEMOCRATS
ANNOUNCE THEIR PRESCRIPTION DRUG PLANS
Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle and House Democratic
Leader Dick Gephardt, together with numerous Democratic members
of the House and Senate, announced the details of their plans to
provide for a voluntary Medicare prescription drug benefit.
The plans would be:
- Voluntary and Accessible To All Beneficiaries. Both plans
ensure that all beneficiaries can access prescription
drug coverage, whether they are in traditional Medicare,
managed care, or a retiree health plan. Employers will
receive financial incentives to provide retiree coverage
and maintain existing coverage.
- Designed To Give Beneficiaries Meaningful Protection.
Both plans will cover up to half of a beneficiary's drug
costs up to $5,000 when phased in and provide protection
against catastrophic drug costs. In addition, the plans
will create financial incentives to ensure that
beneficiaries in rural and hard to serve areas can access
prescription medications.
- Affordable to All Beneficiaries and The Program. Under
both plans, Medicare will contribute at least 50 percent
of the prescription drug premium to make it affordable
for all beneficiaries. The plans will also include
special protection for low-income beneficiaries; those
with incomes below 135 percent of the poverty level will
receive full coverage of cost sharing and premiums, and
those with incomes between 135 and 150 percent of poverty
will receive premium assistance on a sliding scale.
- Administered Using Private Sector Entities And
Competitive Purchasing Techniques. Private sector
entities will negotiate prices with drug manufacturers
and administer the benefit, a mechanism used by most
private insurers. Drugs will be purchased at privately
negotiated rates, giving beneficiaries the bargaining
power they lack today. As a result, beneficiaries will
not only receive prescription drug coverage for the first
time, they will receive better prices for their drugs.
FOR AN INFORMATIVE AND PERSONAL ARTICLE ON PRACTICAL
SUGGESTIONS WHEN SELECTING A NURSING HOME SEE OUR ARTICLE "How to Select a Nursing
Home"
By Allan Rubin
May 11, 2000
http://www.therubins.com
To e-mail: RehabStrat@aol.com
or rubin@brainlink.com
Return to Home