Editorial: Prescription benefit needed for seniors

Friday, July 13, 2001 | 10:11 a.m.

On Thursday President Bush acknowledged that there should be a prescription drug benefit for the recipients of Medicare, which provides health care coverage for 39 million disabled and elderly Americans. But Bush did not offer a concrete plan on how to achieve this important goal. One reason why Bush couldn't offer much substance is that Congress passed his $1.35 trillion, 10-year tax cut, which leaves virtually no funding available to pay for a drug benefit plan.

Bush this week did back, as an interim measure, a plan to promote the use of privately run pharmacy discount cards as a way to reduce drug costs. These cards, which typically cost $25 annually, allow the patient in many cases to save 25 percent on their prescription costs. This definitely is a help, but if you have an annual prescription bill of say, $2,000, you still have to fork over a substantial amount, which for many seniors is impossible given their limited incomes.

The consequences of the president's highly touted tax plan finally are starting to hit home, as evidenced by the lack of money to pay for something as overwhelmingly popular as a prescription drug plan for seniors.