Pacific Views

We're sure it was an oversight ...

... that nobody in the US Congress made a big deal of this while the Medicare 'reform' bill was being debated, but the new law bars Medicare recipients from buying insurance to cover the cost difference between what Medicare pays and what their prescriptions cost. These 'Medigap' insurance policies have been around since the 1970s, and while there have been some problems with them, they've often been the only way that financially strapped seniors could afford their medication.

Congress cited two reasons for banning the sale of Medigap drug policies. Lawmakers wanted to prevent duplication of the new Medicare benefit. They also wanted to be sure that beneficiaries would bear some of the cost. Health economists long have asserted that beneficiaries, when insulated from the costs, tend to overuse medical services.

Gail Shearer, a health-policy analyst at Consumers Union, said she had mixed feelings about the prohibition.

"I don't want a return to abuses of the 1970s and '80s, when lots of confusing Medigap policies were sold to vulnerable seniors," Shearer said. But she added: "Many seniors and disabled people will face a huge gap in drug coverage. In a bill that's marketed as providing choice to consumers, comprehensive drug coverage is not really an option. That's a disappointment."

We wonder why the AARP supported a Medicare bill that was going to cause such financial problems for many of their members.

Via Seattle Times.