Thursday, July 29, 2004
Analysts say the data don't take into account drug price inflation.
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
WASHINGTON -- Medicare's drug card program appears to be working: An independent study released Wednesday suggests that beneficiaries are saving 17 percent to 24 percent on prescriptions.
The study, conducted for the Kaiser Family Foundation, was limited in scope, looking only at one city and a rural area. But it provided the first independent indication that the Bush administration's drug cards could be saving some seniors money.
"Some of the cards do offer some savings at least for some beneficiaries," said Julia James, a health policy analyst at Health Policy Alternatives Inc., which conducted the study for Kaiser.
Under the program, approved by Congress last year, Medicare beneficiaries were eligible June 1 to buy discount drug cards for no more than $30. The card is a transitional program to be replaced by partial prescription drug coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2006.
Very limited
Analysts said the Kaiser study provided a useful first look at the card program, but it lacked the breadth and scope to be the last word. For instance, analysts focused on a seven-week period and lacked the data to say if the program is effective in insulating seniors from drug price inflation.
The study looked at seven card programs in Baltimore and rural Maryland.
Though no Texas data were examined, a Dallas advocate for senior citizens said many of the state's 2.5 million Medicare beneficiaries remain confused about the program. The chief misconception: The program is only for poor retirees.
"It is for everybody on Medicare," said Lynda Ender, age director at the Senior Source in Dallas.
And George Kelemen, advocacy director of Texas AARP, said price savings are good news but still must be considered against the trend of rising drug prices. "The bigger problem is that retail drug prices continue to go up three to four times the cost of living," he said.