CBO Says Bush Prescription Drug Allocation Is Inadequate
Congressional Budget Office Director Dan Crippen said on March 22 that the $153 billion over 10 years that President Bush has proposed for Medicare reform and a prescription drug benefit would provide only a "fairly thin" benefit, CongressDaily/A.M. reports (Fulton, CongressDaily/A.M., 3/23). Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, agreed, saying, "Everybody knows that figure is gone" (Rovner, CongressDaily, 3/22). Testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, Crippen said that based on CBO estimates, Medicare beneficiaries will consume $1.5 trillion in prescription drugs in the next decade. He added that "a drug benefit that covered 50% of enrollees' spending would cost about $728 billion," and one that covered all expenses beyond $1,000 annually would cost $1.1 trillion. With Medicare spending growing faster than the overall economy and the retirement of the baby boomers between 2010 and 2030 expected to double participation in the program, Crippen said, "Adding a drug benefit would significantly increase Medicare's costs, and unless it was fully financed by enrollees' premiums, it would exacerbate the imbalance between the program's projected spending and its dedicated revenues" (CongressDaily/A.M., 3/23). Tauzin, speaking to reporters, said that Bush set the $153 billion figure "before CBO re-estimated last year's House bill," which he said has already climbed to "over $200 billion." He added that he hopes to build on that proposal by fixing the "several-thousand dollar gap between the drug expenses the bill would cover initially and the 'catastrophic stop loss' amount above which insurance would pay the full cost." Tauzin also said that the House would not pass a bill this year that addressed prescription drugs without also tackling comprehensive Medicare reform (CongressDaily, 3/22). To view a Healthcast of the Senate Finance Committee hearing, go to http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/.
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