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Newsweek Editor Says Drug Program May Backfire for
Republicans
Nov. 21, 2005 - Republicans may be about to discover that their
Medicare drug benefit, passed by Congress in 2003 and scheduled to take
effect in January, is a calamity, writes Robert J. Samuelson in the Nov.
28 issue of Newsweek, which is on newsstands today.
It worsens one of the nation's major problems, he
says, - paying baby boomers' retirement costs while addressing a
nonexistent "crisis" - allegedly oppressive drug costs for
retirees, writes Contributing Editor Samuelson.
He sees one reason for the potential for failure in the often
stated confusion by seniors about the plans.
In 46 states, Medicare beneficiaries can choose
from 40 plans or more, reports the Kaiser Family Foundation. People feel
overwhelmed. It's hard to compare plans, which often cover different
drugs and have varying deductibles and premiums. One monthly premium is
as low as $1.87; another is as high as $99.90. A survey by Kaiser
confirms the bafflement: only 35 percent of Medicare beneficiaries say
they understand the drug benefit very well or somewhat well; a
dismal 61 percent say they understand it not well at all or not too
well, he reports.
The other problem he sees is outrage among
conservatives over the new spending and the biggest expansion of
Medicare since its creation in 1965. From 2005 to 2015, the drug benefit
will cost $858 billion, estimates the Congressional Budget Office.
Similarly, many conservatives ridicule the role of private insurance
companies.
Its purpose was mostly political, he says. It was
to bribe the elderly or soon-to-be-elderly to support Republicans in
2004. Now it may backfire on Republicans, he says in The Coming Drug
Bust?.
To read the complete opinion piece go to
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10116334/site/newsweek/
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