Seniors respond to rising costs of prescription drugs…and other health care concerns

By RICHARD A. ROSS

NARROWSBURG, NY — The cost of prescription drugs is spiraling out of control. For seniors, many of whom are on fixed incomes, this issue is particularly significant. According to PA Representative Jerry Birmelin (R-139) “the cost of prescription drugs is rising faster than any other component of health care—as much as 20 percent by recent estimates.”

	TRR photo by Richard A. Ross Susan Morley of Glen Spey is concerned about proposed changes in prescription drug coverage. She and her husband Mack don’t want to lose what they now have.

Medicare does not currently cover the cost of prescription drugs and some medications can cost hundreds of dollars per month. In order not to pay these costs out of pocket, a number of seniors rely on supplementary insurance. That supplemental insurance is obtained in one of two ways.

A segment of former employees from the public or private sector have insurance as part of their retirement packages. On the other hand, many people worked their whole lives and did not retire with these benefits. These people have had to purchase supplementary insurance from HMOs that can be quite costly.

There are those people who simply do not have any supplemental insurance at all.

“There are countless people in the towns of Highland and Lumberland who can’t afford food because they have to pay for their medication,” said Joe Carr, a Lumberland Town Board member.

	TRR photo by Richard A. Ross Therese McGowan of Highland Lake asks, “Why do prescription drugs cost less in Canada?”

Although there are programs such as food stamps or the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC), Carr and members of the Western Sullivan AARP group that met at the Colonial in Yulan on June 17 agreed that some people are reluctant to seek help.

“They don’t want to feel as if they are on welfare even though they worked hard all their lives and are entitled to assistance,” Carr said.

EPIC assists over 310,000 seniors in New York State.

If a person is 65 or older and has an income of less than $35,000 or less if single, or $50,000 or less if married, he or she is eligible for cost sharing for prescription drugs. Seniors can call 800/332-3742 for information on EPIC or go to www.health.state.ny/nysdoh/epic/faq.htm on the Internet.

	TRR photo by Richard A. Ross Shirley Bailey of Highland Lake said, “Some drugs can cost more than $500 per month.”

In Pennsylvania, seniors can get help under the PACE or PACENET programs. Under the revised legislation just passed by the State House and under consideration by the State Senate, the new annual income limits for PACE will be $14,500 for singles and $17,500 for married couples. In addition, the PACENET program increases limits to $22,500 for individuals and $30,500 for married couples. Contact Rep. Birmelin’s office at 717/787-3993 for additional information.

Currently, legislation is being considered by Congress to amend the Medicare program under a bill entitled the Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act. While most people would agree that some form of government help with the rising costs of prescription drugs is long overdue, a number of local seniors have doubts about what that might mean for them. Those concerns were echoed by Senator Hillary Clinton in a phone news conference on June 19. Senator Clinton raised some serious concerns about the version of the bill just released by the House of Representatives.

Susan and Mack Morley of Glen Spey are retired from Minisink Valley Schools and Mid Hudson Psychiatric Hospital respectively. They expressed concerns that the proposed legislation could cause them to lose the coverage they now have. Currently they have the Empire Plan and Indecs Insurance and are unsure about how their benefits might be altered or limited by the proposed legislation.

	TRR photo by Richard A. Ross Joe McDonald of Yulan feels that veterans got a raw deal when the government rescinded their coverage.

“People should not lose what benefits they have from their jobs. Any changes should be grandfathered in.”

Mildred Huberman of the Town of Highland echoed those concerns.

“I have General Health Insurance and Medicare and pay only $20 per prescription. I paid for these benefits by virtue of working all those years,” said Huberman, who was a supervisor of guidance. She would prefer that things be left the way they are.

“It all depends on the kind of job you had,” said Ann Danuff of Lumberland. “Plenty of people worked hard but never received those kinds of benefits.”

Therese McGowan of Highland Lake raised a serious question.

“Why do drugs cost so much less in Canada?” Carol O’Neill, president of the Lumberland Seniors Club, confirmed the idea that Americans take advantage of the lower drug prices north of the border. She is retired from her job at Bon Secours Hospital where she worked in the emergency room.

“American doctors fax prescriptions to Canadian doctors. This is especially true in Florida which has a large senior population.” O’Neill also indicated that there is a high markup on drugs, some of which are produced inexpensively and sold at a great profit.

Danuff heads up the local AARP group.

	TRR photo by Richard A. Ross Joe Carr of Lumberland said that many seniors cannot afford prescription drugs and food. Many are leery of asking for help.

“It’s not so much a question of lowering the costs of drug per person as it is to lower the cost of drugs in general. There’s a lot of experimentation that is unnecessary.”

Joe McDonald of Yulan said the issue of prescription drug costs was a particular sore point for veterans. A Vietnam veteran, McDonald spoke about a class action lawsuit that has been brought against the government for reneging on a promise made to servicemen who had spent at least twenty years in the military. After World War II, the government assured veterans that they would be covered for health care and prescription drugs for life. After Vietnam, the government rescinded those benefits.

“Approximately 1,100 World War II vets die each day,” said McDonald. “Despite huge increases in the military budget, the veterans have been left out in the cold.”

When it comes to resolving the issues surrounding prescription drugs, the challenge is to find an equitable solution to the great disparity that currently exists between those who have coverage and those who don’t. In addition, something must be done to bring the costs of prescription drugs into line. Given the fact that many seniors depend on a number of these drugs, the current situation of spiraling costs is clearly unacceptable.

Senator Clinton expresses reservations about the Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act

	TRR photo by Richard A. Ross Mildred Huberman of the Town of Highland is a retired guidance supervisor. She has excellent coverage and doesn’t want to lose it.

During the course of a telephone news conference held on June 19, Senator Clinton raised some reservations about the version of the Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act drafted by the House of Representatives. According to Clinton, the recently passed Child Tax Credit bill served as a wake-up call to the Senate on how legislation can be altered in its final form. That bill which purports to afford millions of low-income working families with tax credit for children actually was passed without a Senate provision that would have included close to 12 million children from such families who will now receive no benefit whatsoever from the final bill.

In reference to the proposed prescription drug legislation, Clinton cited the following issues as problematic:

• The legislation would exclude lower income people who are Medicaid/Medicare eligible. More than 219,000 New Yorkers in this category would lose their benefits. More than 10 percent of these people are seniors.
• Upwards of 365,000 retirees who are currently insured by programs offered by their former employers could lose their current benefits if the House version of the bill were to be enacted.
• More than 317,000 people enrolled in the New York State EPIC program would lose their guaranteed assistance. Their fate would be determined by state budgets on a year-to-year basis. A significant number of these people have disabilities or are in nursing facilities.
• In total, more than 1/3 of the seniors would be excluded from coverage. Senator Clinton brought a letter from Governor George Pataki to the Senate requesting that the EPIC program be protected.

The bill wouldn’t go into effect until 2006. In the interim, seniors would be given a discount card to take to the pharmacy.

Many employers that have offered insurance to their retirees that cover prescription drugs would opt to no longer do so. This could leave many retirees scrambling for ways to pay for rising drug costs.