A new survey conducted by Families USA, a consumer health organization, reports that drug prices under the new Medicare plan will be much higher than those negotiated by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The survey compared the lowest pharmacy price of the 20 drugs most frequently used by seniors and found that the median price paid by Medicare plans was 48 percent higher than the price paid by the VA. In addition to premiums and deductibles, seniors enrolled in the new drug benefit plan would pay approximately 25 percent of the pharmacy price of the drug. Read more »
More than 1 million Medicare beneficiaries have signed up for the program's new prescription drug benefit since the enrollment period began last month and another 500,000 are expected to be enrolled by the end of January, government officials said. Those Medicare beneficiaries join more than 19 million others who have been enrolled in the drug benefit through their Medicare Advantage plan, by their employer as part of retiree health care coverage, or through an automatic government enrollment plan for Medicare beneficiaries who also qualify for Medicaid. Read more »
An arcane Senate procedure may help groups opposed to budget reconciliation legislation rally the support needed to defeat the measure when it comes before the House again. Senate Democrats delayed final action on a $39.7 billion budget savings package as they forced the deletion of three provisions that violated Senate budget reconciliation rules. The budget savings bill, considered under special budget reconciliation rules prohibiting filibuster in the Senate, would make the first cuts in mandatory spending programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, and student loans since 1997. Read more »
Amid the unprecedented damage left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, one of Tulane University's top doctors says she sees unique opportunities to test innovative approaches to health care. "Never before has a city had the chance to completely rebuild its health care system without the usual barriers," said Karen DeSalvo, chief of general internal and geriatric medicine at Tulane University. Health care infrastructure was the subject of the 46th Washington Primary Care Forum hosted by the Robert Graham Center of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The forum focused on the importance of primary care and technology in the reconstruction of health systems. Read more »
A new report released by the Urban Institute, a liberal think tank, argues that the distribution of health expenditures is skewed, with the minority of high-cost patients accounting for the majority of health care expenditures. The report describes a shift from insurance-covered costs to individual out-of-pocket payments, in a move to reduce medical expenditures and encourage consumer cost-consciousness. Read more »
The growing number of the uninsured, the public health impact of Hurricane Katrina, and the start of registration for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit were among the top 10 health care stories of 2005 selected by The Commonwealth Fund and the health policy journal Health Affairs. Read more »