Published July 2002 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd Affordable Medicines for Our Elderly Citizens
Thirty-seven years ago, in 1965, Congress created Medicare to serve as a health care safety net for Americans who, because of age or disability, did not have access to medical services. Since then, the health care industry has made giant strides in medical treatments and quality of care. At the same time, health care costs have increased significantly -- especially the cost of prescription medicines -- but Medicare has not kept pace. In fact, Medicare offers no prescription medicine coverage. The time has come to address this shortfall and to create a Medicare system that is more responsive to the needs of Americans. Prescription medicines are one of the fastest growing sectors of the health care industry. According to the National Institute for Health Care Management, spending on these medicines jumped by 17 percent in 2001. The Congressional Budget Office projects that, over the next 10 years, drug costs for senior citizens alone are expected to total $1.8 trillion. Such hikes threaten to make medications unaffordable for far too many Americans. This harsh reality is why I have long supported legislative proposals to create a voluntary, universal Medicare prescription drug benefit. Congress should craft an initiative that includes a co-payment system, modeled on the system used by many private insurance plans. A new initiative should also provide additional protections for low-income beneficiaries. Medicare beneficiaries should have the peace of mind that comes with understanding exactly what prescription medicine costs they would incur and what benefits they would receive. In West Virginia, there are more than 335,000 Medicare beneficiaries, many of whom lack dependable, affordable coverage for prescription medicines. Many of these senior citizens live on fixed incomes and cannot afford these high priced, but very necessary, medicines. In the most unfortunate situations, seniors are forced to choose between paying for medicines that their doctors prescribe and paying for food and other basic needs. That should not be the case in the richest, most advanced nation in the world. I hope that Congress will act to make Medicare more responsive to this unfortunate circumstance and craft a responsible, voluntary prescription medicine benefit. By doing so, Congress can help to improve the health of Americans and give peace of mind to millions of Medicare beneficiaries across the country. July 24, 2002