Google Answers Logo
View Question
 
Q: Health care bill of rights for senior citizens ( Answered,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Health care bill of rights for senior citizens
Category: Health > Seniors
Asked by: aghabog-ga
List Price: $100.00
Posted: 24 Sep 2002 06:41 PDT
Expires: 24 Oct 2002 06:41 PDT
Question ID: 68403
Research Medicare Act of 1965 (I am not quite sure of date) and
legislative history of Older Americans Act and find out if any mention
was made of the right of senior citizens to health care.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Health care bill of rights for senior citizens
Answered By: answerguru-ga on 24 Sep 2002 10:11 PDT
 
Hi aghabog-ga,

Your question is definitely an important one to all American senior
citizens. The fact is that although the original Medicare Act of 1965
was meant to provide medical aid to seniors without coverage,
singnificant gaps have since grown between this group and affordable
health care. There has been no "right" to health care provided to
senior citizens.

The Older Americans Act (also of 1965), had the following mandate:

"The Older Americans Act was passed in the same year as Medicare and
established the primary vehicle for organizing and delivering
community-based services through a coordinated system at the state
level. Initially, the Act emphasized small grants to state agencies on
aging to fund social services programs. Soon after, specific funding
was authorized for state planning and coordinating activities.

Through amendments in 1972, a major service component -- the national
nutrition program for the elderly -- was added. Beginning in the late
1970s, several trends occurred which shifted the focus of OAA
activities. Funds became more limited, forcing programs to deal
differently with the fact that the aged population is diverse with
different levels of need. Particular populations were identified as
vulnerable, including frail elders, older women, minorities rural
elders, and the growing number of oldest old individuals.

As the proportion of older frail elderly has increased, the emphasis
has shifted from community-based social services for a broad
population (such as senior centers, volunteer programs, and
recreational activities) to more health-related, long-term care
services for the frail elderly who are at risk for
institutionalization. Developing a community-based long-term care
structure -- a new concept in the 1980s for most communities -- meant
significant state and local planning and increased involvement of
private and for-profit providers."

http://www.state.sd.us/social/ASA/Funding/Act/history.htm

Again, no mention was made of the right of senior citizens. More
information on the Older Americans Act is available here:

http://www.state.sd.us/social/ASA/Funding/older.htm

Now we move into the masses of activity taking place today in an
attempt to reform the health care system.

From a CWA Fact Sheet:

"In 1965, Congress created the Medicare program because half of the
senior citizens in the country had no health insurance. For over
thirty years, Medicare has dramatically improved the quality of life
for seniors. However, Medicare has not kept pace with the growing
medical needs of today's society. On one hand, the invention of new
drugs and people living healthier lifestyles have prolonged the lives
of our seniors. But on the other hand, coverage for the costs and
availability of these drugs is lacking."

However, even though a major reason for the 1965 act was to aid
seniors without insurance, there is no guarantee to any individual
(regardless of age or income level) that they will receive health
care.

"Each year, seniors see the costs of their drugs soar more and more
out of their reach. According to a recent Families USA report, the
price of the top 50 prescription drugs most commonly prescribed for
seniors increased in 1999 at double the rate of inflation. The price
of nearly one-third of those drugs rose at three times the rate of
inflation. One-fifth of the most commonly prescribed drugs rose at
four times the rate of inflation. This burden falls hardest on seniors
who lack drug coverage because they don't receive the benefits of
price discounts that most insurers negotiate. The gap between drug
prices for people with insurance versus those without insurance nearly
doubled from 8 to 15 percent between 1996 and 1999."

http://www.cwa-legis-pol.org/legfacts/10622.htm

There has been a LOT of ongoing action by several groups such as the
CWA that lobby for changes to the way seniors receive medicare. As a
result, several bills are currently being processed by the House.

Access to Rx Medication in Medicare Act of 1999:

The problem pertaining to your question is identified here as:

"Elderly persons without drug coverage axe among the last purchasers
who pay full price. According to a recent Standard and Poor's report
on the pharmaceutical industry, "[d]rugmakers have historically raised
prices to private customers to compensate for the discounts they grant
to managed care consumers." Because Medicare beneficiaries are among
the only private patients without additional coverage, they shoulder
most of the burden generated by the industry's preference for
cost-shifting."

Legislation to counter this problem:
"This legislation would provide coverage of outpatient prescription
drugs under the Medicare Program. The measure would require the
Government to negotiate with private sector service providers for
lower cost drugs and come up with a process for providing payments to
group health plans on behalf of enrolled beneficiaries. H.R.1495/S.
841 would help share the costs of prescription drugs, and assist
persons with out-of-pocket expenses. H. R.1495/S.841 would make
outpatient prescription drugs available to all beneficiaries under the
Medicare program. After a beneficiary meets a $200 deductible,
Medicare would cover 80 percent of covered prescription drug costs up
to $1,700 per year. The beneficiary would pay 100 percent incurred
costs at the contract price up to the out-of-pocket costs of $3,000.
Thereafter, Medicare pays 100 percent."

http://www.house.gov/stark/documents/106th/presciptdrugfact.html
http://www.cwa-legis-pol.org/legfacts/10622.htm

Medicare Expansion for Needed Drugs (MEND) Act:

The MEND Act will do the following: 

1. Offer a voluntary prescription drug benefit that all Medicare
beneficiaries may buy into.
2. Provide prescription drug coverage for an affordable premium, half
of which is paid for by the government.
3. Cover all premiums and costs for those with incomes at or below
135% of the federal poverty level.
4. Offer a partial premium and cost subsidies to those with incomes
between 135% and 150% of the federal poverty level.
5. Cover half of all drug costs up to $5,000. 
6. Provide catastrophic drug coverage when costs exceed $4,000. 
7. Administer benefits through private entities who may negotiate
lower drug prices.

http://www.cantwell2000.com/content/prescript.html

The full text of the Act is available here (currently intrroduced in
Senate):

http://rs9.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c106:S.2541:

The 21st Century Medicare Act is a proposed bill that will do the
following (among other things):

"Q: How would the prescription drug plan work?

A: Our plan would include a drug delivery system that would provide
prescription drug coverage to all senior citizens, regardless of where
they live – in rural or urban communities. The delivery system would
allow federally certified health plans to partner directly with
pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs) and other entities to offer
drug coverage to seniors. Seniors would be able to get their
prescriptions filled at local pharmacies and if they choose,
they could also have prescriptions filled through mail order
pharmacies."

The full Q&A is available at:
http://www.americanbenefitscouncil.org/documents/qafnl.pdf

Finally, its worth noting that there are changes proposed for the
Older Americans Act (called the Older Americans Act of 2000). These
changes are outlined here:

http://www.seniors.gov/legislation/Older-Americans-Act-2000.html

This document is quite a comprehensive collection of all the proposals
currently being considered for making changes to Medicare. Very
interesting if you need to compare between proposals:

http://www.fei.org/gr/download/Senate_Medicare_Prescription_Drug_Proposals_072100.pdf

Search Strategy:
"medicare act" 1965 senior
"Medicare Expansion for Needed Drugs"
"older americans act"
Comments  
There are no comments at this time.

Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Google does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. Please read carefully the Google Answers Terms of Service.

If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by emailing us at answers-support@google.com with the question ID listed above. Thank you.
Search Google Answers for
Google Answers  


Google Home - Answers FAQ - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy