Medicare drugs too costly for many, survey finds - About 20% of enrollees have opted not to buy prescriptions. Few know about a subsidy plan for low-income seniors.
washington -- Most seniors who lacked prescription coverage in past years now have it, thanks to the Medicare drug benefit, but in a survey released today one in five enrollees said they had put off or even skipped getting some medications because of the program's high costs.
The poll of more than 16,000 seniors, published online by the journal Health Affairs, is the closest thing to a "report card" on one of President Bush's few major domestic policy accomplishments. The program, which began last year, was created by a Republican-led Congress and delivers prescription coverage through private insurance plans, charging an average monthly premium of about $27.
Part of the reason so many beneficiaries are having difficulty paying for their medications is that many low-income seniors apparently do not know that they can get additional government subsidies to lower their costs, the survey indicated.
Democrats seized on the findings as evidence that the benefit is not working well for those who need it most: seniors who have several chronic illnesses and must take a number of medications.
"It's a system basically designed to create profits for private insurance plans," said Rep. Pete Stark (D-Fremont), chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on health. "I don't want to see it repealed, but I want to see it repaired."
Researchers involved with the survey said the picture was mixed.
"It has helped in expanding coverage to people who didn't have it, and that is a great thing, but there is still work to be done in making medications more affordable for seniors," said Tricia Neuman of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, one of three organizations that collaborated in the study.
Medicare officials had no initial comment.
The survey found that about 8% of seniors still had no coverage after the prescription plan went into effect in January 2006. But that figure was a dramatic improvement from the previous year, when one-third reported having to pay for their own medications.
"That's pretty positive for most beneficiaries," said John Rother, a top official of AARP, the seniors' lobby.
Overall, about half of 44 million elderly and disabled Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in the prescription program. The rest of those with drug coverage got their benefits from a former employer or through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
- Clinton Calls for Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Jun 30, 1999
- Crunch Time for Medicare Overhaul Apr 28, 2003
- Seniors and the Burden of High-Priced Drugs Aug 02, 1999
