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Foundation Releases Analysis of New Drug Plan for Senior Citizens
Seniorjournal.com
October
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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