Published July 2003 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd Prescription for a Modern Medicare Plan
Congress is in the midst of an important debate on Medicare -- a debate that will shape the health care choices of millions of seniors for years to come. Today, 40 million Americans, including 335,000 West Virginians, rely on Medicare to help provide for their medical needs. With more than one-third of all Medicare beneficiaries lacking insurance for the cost of needed medications, finding affordable prescription drug coverage is a critical issue for our nation's seniors. Prescription drugs are an essential tool for treating and preventing many acute and chronic conditions, but Medicare fails to cover them on an outpatient basis. In West Virginia, the average annual income of a Medicare beneficiary is a mere $10,800. Too many seniors, especially those living on fixed incomes, are forced to choose each month between paying for food and shelter, or buying the essential medicines that their doctors have prescribed. Legislation that recently passed the Senate is intended to address that problem, but falls miserably short. Instead of a comprehensive, voluntary Medicare prescription drug benefit, the Senate legislation would force Medicare beneficiaries to rely on a private, untried, untested, drug-only insurance market for their prescription drug coverage. The Medicare plan, as it stands, does not provide the real, guaranteed, defined benefit that seniors desperately need and does little to address the high cost of prescription drugs. Under this legislation, some seniors would still be forced to split pills to make medicines last longer. Older Americans would end up shortchanging their own health by foregoing medicines that their doctors have prescribed. Congress should do better for our seniors. That is why I have supported an alternative to create a Medicare prescription drug benefit with no deductible, lower cost-sharing, and no gaps in coverage. My plan would have reduced drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate group purchasing agreements with pharmaceutical companies. This proposal would have allowed seniors to choose for themselves how to best meet their prescription drug needs-- either through a private plan drug benefit or one offered through traditional Medicare. Medicare was designed to be a safety net for those who, because of age or disability, did not have access to traditional health insurance. When created, no one could foresee how the costs of medications would spiral over the years, nor was it apparent how integral prescription drugs would be to health care. The time has come to address this shortfall, and to create a Medicare system that is more responsive to the needs of America's seniors. July 9, 2003