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Foundation Releases Analysis of New Drug Plan for
Senior Citizens
Straight Answers on Medicare Prescription Drug
Coverage available online
Oct. 3, 2005 For the next few months, millions of
senior citizens will be wrestling with the decisions that must be made
pertaining to the Medicare prescription drug benefit, known as Medicare
Part D. Policy experts, however, are trying to judge how effective the
program will be in its primary goal - to fill the existing gap in
coverage for prescription drugs while keeping the rising costs of
Medicare under control. Although virtually everyone agrees that Medicare
needed a drug benefit, the details of the coverage that Congress enacted
under the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) are staggeringly complex and
controversial.
The Century Foundation has just released "The
Medicare Drug Benefit: Straight Answers to the Toughest Questions,"
which they describe as a clear and concise guide to key policy
questions about how the prescription drug benefit will work. It also
includes the details on how the program is designed and can possibly
help senior citizens with the decisions they need to make about
participation.
The guide, which was prepared by Leif Wellington
Haase, senior program officer and health care fellow at The Century
Foundation, offers policy makers, information providers, journalists,
and others easy to digest information about the implementation of
Medicare Part D on beneficiaries, taxpayers, and the pharmaceutical and
insurance industries. Questions addressed by Haase include:
-
Will beneficiaries choose to enroll in the
program and will they be able
to navigate the new system successfully?
-
Can prescription drug costs be contained so
that the price tag of the
benefit does not overburden beneficiaries or taxpayers?
-
Will an adequate number of private plans choose
to offer the benefit for
a sustained period of time?
-
Will the transition from other payers for drugs
(such as Medicaid or
state pharmaceutical programs) to Medicare be orderly and
comprehensible
to beneficiaries?
In November 2003, Congress narrowly passed the MMA,
adding outpatient prescription drug coverage to Medicare. Under the new
plan, which is scheduled to begin in January 2006, seniors and disabled
Americans who qualify for Medicare will choose among plans offered by
insurers or other private companies. These plans would cover
prescription drugs only or a package of Medicare benefits that includes
drugs.
"The Medicare Drug Benefit: Straight Answers to the
Toughest Questions" is available at The Century Foundation Web site in
Adobe pdf format at
http://www.tcf.org/ and
http://www.healthpolicywatch.org/.
The Century Foundation conducts public policy
research and analyses of economic, social, and foreign policy issues,
including inequality, retirement security, election reform, media
studies, homeland security, and international affairs. The foundation
produces books, reports, and other publications, convenes task forces
and working groups, and operates seven informational Web sites. With
offices in New York City and Washington, D.C., The Century Foundation is
nonprofit and nonpartisan and was founded in 1919 by Edward A. Filene.
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