Satisfied Seniors and the Fall Campaign

The Kaiser Family Foundation's latest public opinion poll shows four in five seniors satisfied with the new Medicare drug benefit. This was totally predictable, and bad news for Democrats who were banking that widespread dissatisfaction with the plan would become an Achilles heel for Republicans in the fall elections.

As I pointed out last spring, most seniors without previous drug coverage and in relatively decent health probably take at most one or two prescription drugs for the chronic conditions of aging like elevated blood pressure or high cholesterol or mild arthritic pain. That can really add up after a while . . . to $300 a month or more. What did the Medicare drug benefit do for them? The government, in exchange for a $30 monthly premium, now picks up about two-thirds of that cost. What's there to complain about?

For those seniors taking lots of drugs who make payments of $1,000 a month or more, the new benefit provided real benefits, too. Yes, it will be a terrible disappointment to begin making payments again when you reach the so-called "donut hole" in the coverage, but, hey, how much were you paying before? And after two or three months without coverage, you will be back on the government nickel. Again, how many people will become angry because their new benefit didn't go far enough?

The sad reality is that the design of the benefit (no negotiations between the government and the drug companies; no discounts for volume; no strict formularies to get rid of the pricier drugs that have perfectly suitable generic substitutes) means that the government is turning over to the drug companies more than enough money to eliminate the donut hole entirely.

This is your classic Washington ripoff. Everybody gets a little something out of the program except the taxpayer who foots the bill.

So now we can simply add the Medicare drug benefit to the overall health care gouging that goes on in America, where the percent of GDP devoted to medicine last year soared above 16 percent and is headed higher.

I will spend as little time as possible contemplating that fact while on my sojourn in Asia. The wars in the Middle East may pause (they never end); the Republican Party's November prospects may revive; hell, the Washington Nationals may get hot and finish in the first division.

But skyrocketing health care costs? Some things never change.

Posted by gooznews at August 1, 2006 03:11 PM