Employer Rx Cuts

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This New York Times report is not new news, but confirms what has been alleged since passage of BUSHCARE last fall.

Medicare Law Is Seen Leading to Cuts in Drug Benefits for Retirees

By ROBERT PEAR

Published: July 14, 2004

ASHINGTON, July 13 - New government estimates suggest that employers will reduce or eliminate prescription drug benefits for 3.8 million retirees when Medicare offers such coverage in 2006.

That represents one-third of all the retirees with employer-sponsored drug coverage, according to documents from the Department of Health and Human Services.

...

When Medicare officials held an open-door forum on June 9, they were deluged with complaints from Medicare beneficiaries alarmed at the prospect of cuts in retiree drug coverage.

Gale P. Arden, director of the private health insurance group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said: "This is a new line of business for us. We have never been engaged in paying subsidies to employers or unions before.''

In last year's debates, Republicans repeatedly said the new drug benefits would be completely voluntary. "Seniors happy with the current Medicare system should be able to keep their coverage just the way it is,'' Mr. Bush said in his State of the Union Message in 2003.

But Representative Pete Stark of California, the senior Democrat on the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, said it now appeared that the new law would "force millions of retirees out of comprehensive retiree drug coverage and into a flawed, inadequate program.''

In a related matter, the Times also notes in the same article:

"In another sign of Congressional concern about drug costs, the House voted on Tuesday to allow Americans to import prescription drugs from other countries, where prices are often lower. The provision was included in the annual spending bill for the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration. Republican leaders said it would probably be dropped from the bill in negotiations with the Senate. The White House opposed the provision, saying "it would be virtually impossible'' to guarantee the safety of imported medicines."

The Bush Administration's opposition to drug imports was further indicated in the July 12, 2004 article: Trade Pact May Undercut Inexpensive Drug Imports (See our summary).

Putting it all together, Bush is determined to help his corporate cronies, no matter what it costs ordinary people. Thus, Bush is going along with Big Pharma to stop imports - even to the point of interfering with other countries internal affairs. U.S. employers will save billions when they drop drug benefits, but retirees will not get as good a program from Bush's Medicare Reform law (BUSHCARE). Medicare is paid by taxes on working people, not by the wealthy. So, in toto, this amounts to a massive transfer of costs to the lowest paid workers, who will get reduced benefits.

Keep up the good work, George! You have almost solved the servant problem.

July 14, 2004

Last update: 11/13/2007