PBS’ ‘NewsHour’ Examines Prescription Drug Discount Cards

PBS' "Newshour with Jim Lehrer" last night looked at how seniors are turning to prescription drug discount cards to reduce their drug costs in the absence of a Medicare drug benefit. Over the past few months, a number of pharmaceutical companies have introduced discount cards, which for fees ranging from $15 to $100 per year offer varying levels of savings on their medications. While using multiple discount cards can help seniors realize substantial savings, it is an "enormously time-consuming" process, "NewsHour" reports. With Congress divided over a Medicare drug benefit, the Bush administration last year decided to create its own discount card program, which would rely on the buying power of the Medicare's 39 million beneficiaries to produce discounts. But the plan has been stalled by a lawsuit from chain drugstores, who say the discount cards would cut into their profits (Dentzer, "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," 6/3). The drugstores claim that the administration did not have the authority to create the plan without congressional approval (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/11). CMS Administrator Tom Scully is now lobbying Congress to create the discount program through legislation, which would allow the administration to implement the plan ("Newshour with Jim Lehrer," 6/3). A transcript of the segment, as well as audio, is available online.