Misinformation overload

By Denise Clemonds

In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, President Bush declared that thanks to the Medicare law passed last year, "every senior will be able to get prescription drug coverage, and nothing will hold us back."

But a few national groups are trying to do more than just hold back the reforms. They're trying to sabotage the implementation of the reforms -- especially the new Medicare prescription drug discount card program -- regardless of the damage their efforts might cause.

The success of the discount card program will depend in no small part on the sheer numbers of seniors who enroll. Millions of seniors now on Medicare don't have prescription drug coverage. They need to know that they're eligible to register for a discount card that will save them upwards of 25 percent on the drugs that they need to live longer, healthier lives. All they have to do is call 1-800-MEDICARE to get started.

Yet many groups want them to believe that the discount cards won't offer significant savings, that the application process is too difficult and that it's all a waste of seniors' time. So their message to seniors is, "Ignore your health, ignore your wallets and take a pass on this opportunity."

U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, a longtime seniors' advocate who helped author the new Medicare law, rightly pointed out that this "demagoguery" is "one of the reasons why seniors have been slow to sign up." And, ultimately, this demagoguery can only succeed by causing seniors to suffer.

In Missouri, there are approximately 880,000 Medicare beneficiaries. About 215,000 of them lack prescription drug coverage. If they all participated in this program, they could save an estimated $191 million in out-of-pocket costs by the end of next year.

But if we allow prescription drug expenses to eat into seniors' income (which is often fixed and limited), their use of prescription drugs can decline -- and their health along with it.

That more than anything is why it's important to encourage seniors to participate in the discount card program. Scaring them away from it may yield political dividends, but at a dreadful human cost.

We all have an interest in making the new Medicare law work, an interest far greater than the short-term and self-serving gains sought by the foes of Medicare's modernization. If we're not seniors now, we will be. If we're seniors but we have drug coverage, there's always a chance we might lose it. And we're all taxpayers, so we all have billions upon billions of dollars at stake.

If we stay the course, we'll have the Medicare we need for the new century. As more seniors have better access to the best medications, there'll be less need for the expensive hospitalizations those medications can prevent and even render unnecessary. (They're the very same hospitalizations, it should be noted, that were putting so much strain on the Medicare system as a whole that reform became essential in the first place.)

I encourage Medicare beneficiaries to at least check into the prescription drug discount card program. It may not be perfect, but it is certainly a step in the right direction. We'll all save in the long run.

Denise Clemonds is executive director of the Missouri Association of Homes for the Aging in Jefferson City, Mo.