Republicans and Democrats have placed prescription drug coverage for seniors at the top of their agendas this election year; however, there is strong disagreement over how best to proceed. Since the beginning of the year, House and Senate committees have held numerous hearings to address the issue. This week, leaders of the House Commerce and Ways and Means Committees released a list of principles that they will follow as they craft legislation that would provide prescription drug coverage for seniors. On March 22, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing to examine proposals to provide prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
Currently, Medicare covers prescription drugs when they are provided during an inpatient stay at a hospital or nursing facility and when the drugs cannot be self-administered. As a result, Medicare beneficiaries are forced to seek supplemental coverage for prescription drugs, with only two-thirds of beneficiaries doing so. Putting a woman’s face on the issue, Deborah Briceland-Betts of the Older Women’s League (OWL) told the committee that women constitute 58 percent of the Medicare population at age 65 and 71 percent of the Medicare population at age 85. Additionally, nearly eight in ten women on Medicare use prescription drugs regularly. Most of these women pay for the medications out-of-pocket, resulting in an average expenditure of $2,613 per year on such costs. “Women on Medicare spend 20 percent more on prescription drugs than their male counterparts,” she said, adding: “We must remember that this financial burden is being placed on women who are, at every age, at a greater risk for poverty than their male counterparts.”
Strongly advocating prescription drug coverage for seniors, Ms. Briceland-Betts said that the benefit should be universally available to all Medicare beneficiaries; should be voluntary; should be affordable; should be part of a defined benefit package; should provide access to medically appropriate drugs; and should be indexed to inflation. Ms. Briceland-Betts said, “Proposals to increase cost-sharing and deductibles under Medicare would likely discourage many women, for whom out-of-pocket health care expenses are already a hardship, from seeking the health care they need.” She added: “Proposals to provide a set amount of money to purchase Medicare coverage would unfairly disadvantage women who could not afford the high cost of comprehensive coverage.”
