Teamsters Local 237 -- Newsline Highlights

Get to know your Business
Agent today!

  Find out how the union
  makes a difference on
  the job.

Newsline: December 2003

President Bush Signs Controversial Drug Plan

Widely Considered Threat to Medicare for Millions

Despite the huge outpouring of opposition from labor, retiree and senior citizens’ groups — and a filibuster by Democrats in the Senate — the highly controversial Republican-endorsed Medicare prescription drug bill was passed by a vote of 54 to 44 in the Senate, and was signed into law by President Bush.

Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass), who led the unsuccessful filibuster, said the legislation is “the first step towards a total dismantling of Medicare.”

He asserted that in exchange for destroying Medicare, it offers senior encitizens a “paltry and inadequate drug benefit,” and when implemented it will “make nine million senior citizens...worse off than they are today.”

The AFL-CIO said the new law does the following:

Moves Medicare toward privatization and steers seniors and people with disabilities to private HMOs

Forces 32.5 million beneficiaries to pay higher premiums and other Medicare costs

Opens the door to a whopping $139 billion in profits for the pharmaceutical industry

Prevents the government from negotiating lower drug costs and does nothing to rein in soaring prescription drug prices

Threatens the employer-provided drug benefits for millions of retirees

A report by the Institute for America’s Future charged that the new legislation “costs New Yorkers more and undermines the entire Medicare system, while drug companies stand to earn billions.”

The report noted that the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Coast Guard, the Department of Defense and other agencies negotiate with drug firms to get the best prices on prescriptions. However, seniors and persons with disabilities will be prevented from seeking these lower prices because the Medicare Administrator is prohibited by the new law from doing so.

Despite the fact that Americans pay more than twice the price for prescription drugs than do Canadians, the new law also rejects proposals to make re-importation of prescriptions easier, forcing Americans to pay “artificially high prices for the medicines they need.”

The report pointed out that because of the unusual drug coverage structure included in the new law, there is a huge gap that ignores those persons whose drug bills cost between $2,200 and $5,044. This group is left out and will receive no aid.

If a person pays a $275 deductible and a monthly premium of $35 to $175, 75 percent of drug costs between $276 and $2,201 will be covered, the report said; “catastrophic” drug costs above $5,044 will be covered by perhaps 95 percent.

The law also gives HMOs about $12 billion of taxpayer money “to encourage them to sell the health care coverage that Medicare provides now.” Medicare would be forced to compete with these subsidized HMOs.

This could force six million seniors into managed care, the report contended. In managed care -- private health plans which limit the choice of doctors -- the former Medicare patients could lose their choice of doctors and specialists.

Home · 237 Overview · Union Reps · Features · Newsline · Members at Work · Women at Work · Know Your Rights · Political Action Alerts · Benefits · Legal Services · Education · Membership · Retirees · Media Contact · Contact 237

This site is managed by Tania Lambert, Editor, Teamsters Local 237. Gregory Floyd, President.
© 2003 Teamsters Local 237. All Rights Reserved. All material herein is the property of Teamsters Local 237 and shall not be reproduced without the written permission of Teamsters Local 237.