Uninsured, Prescription Drug Benefit for Seniors “Lost in the Shuffle” After Sept. 11 Attacks, PRI’s Inlander Says

Several "long-standing domestic issues, matters that threaten the well-being of tens of millions of Americans" have been "lost in the shuffle" since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Charles Inlander, a consumer advocate and president of the Pennsylvania-based People's Medical Society, said Oct. 18 in his weekly "Second Opinion" commentary on Public Radio International's "Marketplace." Inlander noted that the "leading issue" in the last presidential election was how to create a drug benefit for the nation's senior citizens, who are finding it "next to impossible to purchase the medications they need." Yet even before Sept. 11, according to Inlander, "the campaign promises for such a benefit were being revised, as both the president and Congress told us that there wasn't enough money to make such a benefit happen." Noting the airline bailout package recently passed by Congress, Inlander added, "Funny, isn't it, that they could find $15 billion for private airlines, but nothing for senior citizens? Fifteen billion dollars would buy all the drugs the poor elderly will need for the next two years." Inlander also noted that in the last few years, "primarily due to programs aimed at children," the number of uninsured Americans has declined by a few million. But now, Inlander said, "with hundreds of thousands being laid off, the number of uninsured is bound to rise, possibly to historic levels, yet not a word of bipartisan sympathy, much less money, is being offered in help." Inlander added, "President Bush has asked us to go back to living our lives normally. He wants us to travel to Disneyland, to frequent restaurants, to spend our money. But if you're a senior citizen who can't afford your medication, the only part of Disneyland that comes to mind is Fantasyland. And if you're uninsured with pressing medical costs, even going to McDonald's may be out of the question." Inlander concluded, "As horrible as the Sept. 11 tragedy was, we cannot let our political leaders use it as an excuse to ignore other vital issues. If we do, the terrorists will have won an even bigger victory" (Inlander, "Marketplace," PRI, 10/18).