[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 15, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1251]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1251]]



                     DRUG COVERAGE MEANS EXTRA COST

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DOUG BEREUTER

                              of nebraska

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 15, 1999

  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, this Member commends to his colleagues an 
excellent editorial pointing out the need for realistic premiums to 
cover the additional cost that would result from including prescription 
drugs under Medicare coverage which appeared in the Norfolk (Nebraska) 
Daily News, on June 11, 1999.

              [From the Norfolk Daily News, June 11, 1999]

                     Drug Coverage Means Extra Cost


President has a plan for including prescriptions under Medicare program

       President Clinton believes he has a plan for including 
     prescription drugs under Medicare coverage that is superior 
     to the one suggested by the co-chairmen of his 17-member 
     advisory commission. The latter plan advanced by Sen. John 
     Breux, D-La., and Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., would provide 
     the elderly participants under Medicare with a fixed amount 
     for purchasing either a public or private health plan, which 
     could include expenses for prescription drugs.
       That had the advantage of simplicity, but a political 
     disadvantage of not providing opportunity for presidents and 
     members of Congress to get credit for periodic improvement of 
     all kinds of health care benefits.
       The Clinton plan, promised to be presented in detail later 
     this month, proposes drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries 
     through the payment of an extra premium. It was predicted as 
     being as low as $10 a month and certainly less than $25 a 
     month.
       In either event, it would be relatively cheap coverage, and 
     appealing to those now covered by this government program 
     whereby Social Security beneficiaries pay a $45.50 premium 
     for health insurance. Inclusion of drugs in the program will 
     boost costs, though White House advisers claim they will be 
     offset by reducing hospital admissions and nursing homes, and 
     reduce the need for home health care. The question is: Who 
     will pay?
       Today's wage-earners should not be saddled with extra 
     payroll taxes to provide this new coverage; neither should 
     employers who are partners in paying the payroll taxes.
       The problems with future solvency for the systems that 
     provide Social Security retirement and Medicare arise from a 
     political inability to fix benefit limits. Any expansion of 
     benefits--especially for prescription drugs--must be 
     accompanied by a sound program by which those who are served 
     share the extra expense.
       Using a federal surplus--which accumulates because 
     Americans are already taxed too heavily--to expand government 
     benefits is a politically devious way to resolve solvency 
     problems of a program already destined for insolvency on its 
     present path.
       Better coverage will cost more; and those costs ought to be 
     paid largely through realistic premiums for those who wish 
     and can afford the extras.

     

                          ____________________