Posted At Senior Journal
BY : Peter Frost
Republicans may be about to discover that their Medicare drug benefit, passed by Congress in 2003 and scheduled to take effect in January, is a calamity, writes Robert J. Samuelson in the Nov. 28 issue of Newsweek, which is on newsstands today.It worsens one of the nation's major problems, he says, - paying baby boomers' retirement costs while addressing a nonexistent "crisis" - allegedly oppressive drug costs for retirees, writes Contributing Editor Samuelson.
He sees one reason for the potential for failure in the often stated confusion by seniors about the plans.
In 46 states, Medicare beneficiaries can choose from 40 plans or more, reports the Kaiser Family Foundation. People feel overwhelmed. It's hard to compare plans, which often cover different drugs and have varying deductibles and premiums. One monthly premium is as low as $1.87; another is as high as $99.90. A survey by Kaiser confirms the bafflement: only 35 percent of Medicare beneficiaries say they understand the drug benefit "very well or "somewhat well; a dismal 61 percent say they understand it "not well at all or "not too well, he reports."
The other problem he sees is "outrage among conservatives over the new spending and the biggest expansion of Medicare since its creation in 1965. From 2005 to 2015, the drug benefit will cost $858 billion, estimates the Congressional Budget Office. Similarly, many conservatives ridicule the role of private insurance companies."
Its purpose was mostly political, he says. It was to bribe the elderly or soon-to-be-elderly to support Republicans in 2004. Now it may backfire on Republicans, he says in The Coming Drug Bust?."
To read the complete opinion piece go to
