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Medicare Drug Program
More Lawmakers See Medicare Drug Benefit as 'Work in
Progress'
May 26, 2006 - The
Knight Ridder/Monterey County Herald on Thursday examined the
political implications of the Medicare prescription drug benefit and the
belief among lawmakers and the Bush administration that the program "is
a work in progress, rather than a finished product."
 Republicans
had expected the drug benefit to be a "political knockout" when the
legislation was passed, but confidence in the public's support waned as
the program's "flaws and shortcomings were exposed early and often" in
its initial months, the Knight Ridder/Herald reports.
However, it now seems that lower-than-anticipated
drug costs, higher beneficiary satisfaction rates and the success of
recent enrollment efforts have helped the public's view of the new drug
benefit.
Still, despite what Republicans say are signs of
the program's success, the drug benefit could remain a "possible
election-year albatross" for the party, and "if the first five months
are a sign of what's to come, special-interest groups, lawmakers and
concerned seniors will continue to seek changes that GOP lawmakers will
likely oppose," according to the Knight Ridder/Herald.
Senators and House members of both parties have
proposed legislation that would make changes to the drug benefit,
including bills that would eliminate a late-enrollment penalty and would
require drug plans to pay pharmacists' claims within a certain
timeframe.
Both proposals have some bipartisan support,
although the Bush administration opposes legislative changes to the drug
benefit until final enrollment data are analyzed. It is also possible
that the drug benefit will not play a major role in the November
elections, according to the Knight Ridder/Herald.
Drew Altman, president of the
Kaiser Family Foundation, said, "It isn't emerging as a top voting
issue for seniors in this election. Other issues are crowding out health
and [the drug benefit] for voters, like Iraq, gas prices and
immigration" (Pugh, Knight Ridder/Monterey County Herald, 5/25).
"Reprinted with
permission from kaisernetwork.org You can view the entire
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign up
for email delivery at
www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report is published for
kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family
Foundation. © 2006 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation.
All rights reserved.”
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