[Gimpy]

of the type that show how this Bush adminstration and his radical right-wing agenda are affecting ordinary Americans!

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HEALTH CARE
'Playing Roulette'

Congress Daily reports that, "despite a tentative agreement between House and Senate GOP leaders and two moderate Senate Democrats, an actual conference agreement to ratify the [Medicare] deal appears less than inevitable." The legislation remains stuck and many polarizing issues remain unresolved. Although President Bush called for Congress to "finish the job" yesterday in a speech to Florida retirees, the WP reports he "dealt only lightly with the specifics of the Medicare negotiations during his appearances," instead "singling out aged members of the audience with names like Estelle and Marge and discussing their financial difficulties paying for prescriptions." Democrats strongly disagree with segments of the legislation, with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) claiming, " It's playing roulette with the lives of senior citizens." Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) also weighed in, saying, "It would be the end of Medicare as we know it." Center for American Progress Fellow Jeanne Lambrew has an analysis today outlining some of the shortfalls of the legislation, warning legislation "would alter the fabric of Medicare as a social insurance program by undermining its guaranteed benefit and capping its government funding," jeopardizing Medicare for future retirees. Here are some of the issues:

POORLY DESIGNED DRUG BENEFIT: Lambrew writes the drug bill "could leave millions of Medicare beneficiaries with less, not more, prescription drug coverage." A cost-savings measure could scale back drug coverage for 6 million "nursing home residents, people with disabilities and truly indigent seniors." According to the LA Times, "for many of the 12 million seniors who get drug benefits from their former employers, the proposed Medicare plan is less generous than what they already have." Also, government and independent estimates show the proposed bill "would prompt employers to drop retiree health coverage." The CBO estimated that " between 3.9 to 4.5 million seniors would lose their private drug coverage as companies unload this portion of their pension liabilities onto ever-generous Uncle Sam." Finally, a quirk in the legislation leaves a coverage gap; although seniors will have to continue to pay premiums year-round, half will be without coverage for part of the year.

FUNDING CAPS WILL LEAD TO DECREASED BENEFITS: Proposed caps to spending guarantee major cuts in Medicare benefits in the near future. While President Bush yesterday claimed the $400 billion he budgeted over the next decade for a stronger Medicare system "is enough to meet our commitments to the seniors today and to future generations of Americans," that's not the case. As the NYT reports, "the Congressional Budget Office says prescription drugs for the Medicare population over 10 years will cost roughly $1.8 trillion."

INCREASED PREMIUMS: The government announced last month that "Medicare premiums will rise in 2004 by 13.5%." This increase erodes "much of the 2.1% cost-of-living adjustment that Social Security recipients will receive in 2004." And while "seniors will see out-of-pocket medical costs drop in the short run" because of the new drug bill, Newhouse News reports that the Department of Health and Human Services warns "over time?[seniors] must expect Medicare to pay a smaller share of their health care costs," no matter what the outcome of the legislation.

HURTS RURAL SENIORS: A quarter of Medicare beneficiaries live in rural America and face special challenges. A study by the Center for American Progress in September found that rural beneficiaries "are nearly twice as likely to lack prescription drug coverage, spend 25% more out-of-pocket for medications, and have less stable access to private health insurance plans." However, rural seniors under the current plan face a prescription drug coverage gap double that of their urban counterparts and a weakened fallback measure which should give access to Medicare benefits when fewer than two insurers offer coverage in a given market.

REIMPORTATION STRIPPED OUT: The WSJ reports that "big drug firms gain" in their efforts to kill provisions giving Americans access to world market prices for prescription drugs. Despite the House and Senate overwhelmingly passing reimportation legislation, the pharmaceutical industry appears to have killed those provisions in the conference committee. As one of the 675 drug industry lobbyists said "it's very good." Still, the House has to pass the conference report, and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), who passed a reimportation bill earlier this year, said the emerging deal could cost her vote the next time around. "Obviously, the conferees are ignoring us and listening to the drug industry."

SHAMELESS SHILLING FOR DRUG INDUSTRY: Despite skyrocketing drug prices at home, conservatives and the White House claim that the most pressing problem is low prices abroad, saying the industry needs even higher prices to support research and development. The Administration has been pushing to use trade leverage to challenge Canada's price controls and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), a top recipient of drug industry cash, has called for other countries to raise prices as well: "That's kind of the bare minimum that we need to have them do." But this tactic ignores the fact that the drug industry is reaping record profits, and spends more money on advertising and lobbying than R&D. "An estimated 61.1% of the Medicare dollars that will be spent to buy more prescriptions will remain in the hands of drug makers as added profits." A similar report showed "many of the dollars that drug manufacturers claim are spent on research of new pharmaceutical products are actually spent on marketing research," or research on promotional campaigns, not the "development and discovery of new drugs." (Pharmaceutical companies spend more on ads than Coca-Cola or McDonalds.)

COMPANIES HIRE MERCENARY "GRASSROOTS" GROUP: To influence the final Medicare bill, the drug industry has bankrolled a front group to air ads throughout the country. The United Seniors Association ( USA) is "a conservative, grassroots organization for the elderly? just as likely to be flacking for corporate special interests as it is to be representing seniors." The drug lobby pays the group "as a front for its TV and radio 'issue' ad campaigns," which is also "used by several corporate energy front groups pushing for the GOP legislation."

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