(Warwick, R.I.)–Congressmen Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Jim Langevin (D-RI) today hosted a discussion with local seniors at the Pilgrim Senior Center in Warwick on the local impact of the Medicare prescription drug bill that was forced through the Republicans leadership.  Joined by Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor Charles Fogarty, the elected leaders highlighted the vast shortcomings of the bill that is currently under consideration by the United States Senate.

 Kennedy, Langevin, and Fogarty were be hosted by the Rhode Island Senior Center Directors Association, which has also opposed the legislation.

 "The more I learn about this bill, the more I believe this will eventually spell the end to Medicare as we know it," said Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI).  "Since its creation, Medicare has embodied what is good about human services.  For decades, Medicare has provided affordable health coverage for millions of seniors regardless of their personal health, their income, or their location.  Republicans want to take that system and throw it into the private insurance market, which will eventually cause costs to rise precipitously.  That is bad news for seniors in Rhode Island and across the country."

“The pro-HMO Medicare legislation not only fails to meet the needs of seniors and jeopardizes the retiree coverage used by 12 million Americans, it also lays a strong foundation for the demise of the Medicare program as we know it,” said Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI).  “This farce of a drug benefit establishes a system where seniors will be forced to rely on HMOs such as Harvard Pilgrim for their health care needs.  This legislation was written to boost profits for drug companies and insurers - not to provide much needed savings for income-strapped seniors.”

 "This is a plan only David Copperfield would like. It is the illusion of a drug benefit. Once seniors find out how little they will get back from this so-called prescription drug coverage they will be outraged. This helps every group but the group it's supposed to help - the seniors," Fogarty said. "They've sold us a bill of goods - it's the single biggest fraud I've ever seen perpetrated on our seniors and it's the end of the safety net."

Fogarty, who is chairman of the state's Long-Term-Care-Coordinating Council, is the author of legislation that has dramatically expanded the state's pharmaceutical program for seniors, RIPAE.

 Early Saturday morning, as House Republicans held the official vote on the legislation open for more than three hours, Kennedy and Langevin opposed the bill on the grounds that it will not benefit Rhode Island’s senior population in the long-term.

 Though Kennedy, Langevin and Fogarty have opposed the bill for a variety of reasons, one of the major concerns is that it could erode Medicare’s solvency over the next several years.  The bill proposes to allow private insurance companies to compete with Medicare and also enables them to siphon off healthy seniors into different plans, which would drive up health care costs across the board.  One of the founding principles of Medicare - namely, guaranteed coverage of all seniors - could be destroyed in this process.

 The legislation forced upon older Americans by House Republicans creates a system where seniors rely on private, drug-only companies to administer their drug coverage.  Each of these companies will develop their own rules about premiums, deductibles and what medicines are covered.  The standard this bill sets for the companies only offers 75 percent coverage of the costs up to $2,250 - and no coverage at all until the expenses then reach $5,100.  During that significant gap in coverage, seniors will still be responsible for paying a $35 monthly premium. 

The legislation fails to include a meaningful fallback plan seniors can rely on if private companies fail to emerge in their area, an all too likely scenario that it is our duty to protect against.

The prescription drug component of this bill contains a troubling provision that forbids the Secretary of Health & Human Services from using the bulk purchasing power of Medicare beneficiaries to negotiate for lower drug prices for senior citizens - a tactic that has proven effective in state programs, as well as 25 other industrialized nations to provide substantial cost savings for much-needed medications. 

Beginning in 2010, this agreement will expose millions of seniors to new cost and benefit uncertainties in as many as six large metropolitan areas, possibly including Rhode Island and neighboring Massachusetts.

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