Valley seniors skeptical about Medicare plan

Suzanne Struglinski and Christina Littlefield

Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

Las Vegas area seniors were skeptical Tuesday about whether the new Medicare plan approved earlier in the day by the Senate would do any of them any good.

Some see the plan as help for seniors on Medicare who need reductions in prescription drug costs, but others said the plan does little and costs the nation too much.

"I know there are so many people who cannot afford to buy (prescription) drugs but I don't know how much it is going to help them," Cherie McLaughlin, 70, said. "I guess I think it's probably positive in the long run, just because so many people can't afford their drugs."

During his visit to Las Vegas Tuesday, President Bush praised the plan to overhaul Medicare.

The first part of the plan, aimed at keeping the reins on the prices of prescription drugs, will be rolled out next year.

Eligible seniors will get a discount drug card to receive a 10 percent to 25 percent discount on drug costs while low-income seniors will get an additional $600 credit on this card for prescriptions, according to the Health and Human Services Department. The cards should be available next spring.

Starting in 2006, every senior who uses Medicare will see an increased savings. Medicare will cover 75 percent of prescription drug costs up to $2,250, after seniors pay a $250 deductible.

Larry Eickhoff, 71, like many seniors, was still unsure of the details of the program, but he thought the plan was a "good start" toward helping seniors with the high cost of drugs.

"Anywhere where we can make progress is a good step, especially to help low- income seniors," Eickhoff said outside of a Sav-On in Henderson.

"The prescriptions can really be a burden."

The plan pays 95 percent of each prescription after someone pays $3,600 a year out of pocket. The patient then pays either 5 percent or a co-pay, according to the Health and Human Services Department.

In a summary of the legislation, the department said seniors currently without drug coverage and paying $800 a month -- or $9,600 a year -- would see their spending cut by 61 percent, or $5,868. Seniors who spend $400 a month would save 50 percent, or $2,404.

The plan will vary from senior to senior based on how much they spend on prescription medication and if they choose to use the plan.

Some Southern Nevada seniors who would be eligible under the plan said they were wary of the plan and question if it will truly address the rising costs of prescription drugs for all seniors, not just those on Medicare. The help the new plan gives to the neediest of seniors, however, made many hopeful the plan would provide some relief.

"I think there is good and bad in it," Larry Vath, 69, said. "I think it is a mixture, a conglomeration of problems, but in order to please 40 million people -- it's impossible, you can't do it. What's good for my wife and I is terrible for the guy across the street."

Several seniors said they doubted the discount cards would do much good until the plan is fully implemented in 2006.

"I have some friends who are paying $150 a month, for one prescription, so 10 percent off that won't be that much of a help," McLaughlin said.

Doris Way, 65, said some discount cards already given by HMOs are not accepted everywhere and do little to cut the drug costs. She thinks the plan will only help either extremely low-income seniors -- those below the poverty line -- or those who spend $2,000 to $3,000 or more a year on prescriptions.

"It's not going to go into effect until 2006, and all it's going to do is help the insurance companies, (President Bush's) rich friends," Way said.

Way agreed with Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy's arguments against the plan.

"It's going to hurt seniors, you wait and see," Way said. "Just like Sen. Kennedy said, it's like fool's gold. When you look at it looks so real. But when you check it out it turns out to be fool's gold. And that is what this is going to turn out to be."

Many seniors argued the new plan does more to help HMOs and drug companies than seniors, and that Congress should have spent their time working on reducing overall drug costs in America and made the costs similar to those in neighboring Canada and Mexico.

"The drug companies are making too much money," McLaughlin said. "... I don't understand how the same drugs in other countries are cheaper than they are here."

Vath agreed, saying he pays $125 out of pocket each month for his diabetes pills, and that is after Senior Dimensions has already paid its share. But when Vath has seen specials on how drugs are manufactured, thousands of pills appear to come off the assembly line every minute, he said.

"This is capitalism," he said. "They have come across something that works and they are making the most of it."

Some seniors who live near the Canadian and Mexican borders have found they can obtain their medicines cheaper in those countries.

Vath and others also questioned how the plan would affect seniors who chose to have medical coverage under an HMO instead of Medicare, but still need help with prescription costs.