Medicare Changes Inevitable No Matter Who Wins

With the election still in doubt, one thing is certain. Both candidates favor taxpayer support of prescription medications for Medicare recipients, which is a positive benefit for senior citizens no matter who is the eventual winner. They differ, however in the means by which they will fund these fundimental changes in Medicare.

Vice President Gore favors a system where the taxpayer would support medication coverage for all senior citizens. Under his proposal, the Health Care Financing Administration would contract with private companies to purchase medications in bulk, which would then be used to provide medications for senior citizens. His proposal would allocate $253 billion over 10 years.

Governor Bush, on the other hand, proposes to allocate $158 billion over that same 10 years. Instead of providing medications to meet the needs of senior citizens, Bush would re-design Medicare so that senior citizens could purchase subsidized private insurance programs to pay for their medication needs. Bush's plan would somewhat resemble the current Federal Employee medical package, where various plans are offered and the employee chooses the one best suited for his/her situationl.

What does this mean in plain language? How will senior citizens benefit? First of all, it represents a major shift in Medicare policy. Currently, most prescriptions are not covered by Medicare. With senior citizens spending more on medications each year, it makes financial sense to have the Medicare program assist with funding for medical expenses such as these. It makes no sense to have senior citizens having to choose between the cost of their medication needs and basic needs, like food. Both candidates agree with this. In answer to the second question, to varying levels, seniors will benefit by having a new type of coverage that will help ease the burden of medication purchases for their age group.

Will either of their proposals be approved by Congress? This depends on who eventually becomes the President. It appears to me that if Gov. Bush wins, his proposal has much more of a chance for congressional passage, since the Republican Party controls both houses of the Congress. If Vice President Gore is victorious, I see that he would have a hard time gaining passage in an opposition controlled Congress. It is almost certain, however, that some type of basic prescription coverage will be enacted, since with the senior citizen age bracket will make up almost 20% of the population in the next 25 years. It is obvious that this age group will have a considerable amount of power at the polling place, and both parties want to court their vote.