[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 19, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E909]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING KATE A. SCANNELL, MD FOR HER ARTICLE ``DELIRIOUSLY 
                   DUMBFOUNDING DRUG DISCOUNT CARDS''

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                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 19, 2004

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Kate A. Scannell, 
MD for bringing to light many of the shortcomings of the Medicare drug 
discount card program. Dr. Scannell is not only a respected 
geriatrician in the Bay Area, she is also a noted medical ethicist and 
author. With years of experience delivering services to Medicare 
beneficiaries, there is no one more qualified to pass judgment on the 
Medicare drug card program than Dr. Scannell. I appreciate her honesty, 
and willingness to stand up and inform people in my district about the 
confusing and wasteful drug card policy.
  It is with pleasure that I submit the attached article, ``Deliriously 
Dumbfounding Drug Discount Cards,'' for inclusion in the Congressional 
Record. The article originally appeared in the May 16, 2004 edition of 
The Argus (Fremont, CA).

              Deliriously Dumbfounding Drug Discount Cards

                           (By Kate Scannell)

       Medicare officials call it the ``drug discount card''--a 
     code phrase referring to a small piece of paper that has the 
     capacity to blow up your mind and destroy your sanity. These 
     ``drug discount cards'' or ``DDCs''--also known as 
     ``deliriously dumbfounding cards''--are supposed to offer 
     pharmaceutical discounts between 10 to 25 percent to Medicare 
     enrollees who have no prescription drug coverage. However:
       The DDCs were launched last week when the federal 
     government initiated its new ``discount drug program'' or 
     ``DDP''--otherwise known as ``Doing a Darn Pittance'' about 
     outlandishly high drug costs. While the official stated 
     mission of the DDP is to make drugs more affordable for 
     elderly and disabled Medicare recipients, in practice the 
     system is cumbersome, confusing and inefficient.
       The new program also smells like a political ploy during an 
     election year. By giving Medicare enrollees a card to make it 
     appear as though they had some control over out-of-control 
     drug costs, the DDP functions to distract everyone from the 
     root causes of excessively high drug prices: profit-driven 
     pharmaceutical companies that wildly over-charge for 
     medications, and a federal government that can't (or won't) 
     help to control drug prices.
       Here's how the new card system and drug program operate. 
     The DDP requires that elderly or disabled Medicare enrollees 
     first try to obtain ``the card.'' Here we encounter our first 
     daunting hurdle, in that there exists not one but many cards 
     from which to choose. Medicare enrollees must select a single 
     card from among at least 40 companies and organizations that 
     have been approved by the Department of Health and Human 
     Services to distribute them.
       Fortunately, all our elderly and disabled Medicare patients 
     are tech-savvy, and they own personal computers equipped with 
     Internet services which they can navigate freely for the 
     necessary comparison shopping.
       Those Medicare patients will also want to print out Excel 
     spreadsheets to help them sort out the fine details, because 
     each card provides different savings on different 
     medications. And it would be wise to keep a copy of the 
     spreadsheet in a readily accessible location, because the 
     companies can change the prices of those drugs at any time.
       I have heard nothing but disappointment, confusion, 
     frustration and anxiety voiced by Medicare enrollees who are 
     trying to make sense of the president's drug card program. 
     Its inhospitable and labyrinthine structure defies the will 
     and the capacity of people to negotiate it.
       To make matters worse, the new Medicare Web site 
     (www.medicare.gov) unveiled last month by the Bush 
     administration contains substantial inaccuracies and errors. 
     Proposing to offer helpful information about the DDP and drug 
     price comparisons, the site was found to be riddled with 
     erroneous information and incorrect prices. For example, a 
     spokeswoman for Walgreen's reported that about half their 
     drug prices were listed inaccurately. To rub more salt into 
     the wound, the prices of drugs from Canada tended to run 
     below those offered by the Medicare discount cards.
       Finally, millions of Medicare patients will spend many 
     precious hours trying to choose the best card and to decipher 
     the DDP when the stunning fact remains that the entire 
     program is scheduled to end in January 2006. At that point, 
     we will be under the thumb of the disastrous Medicare Drug 
     Bill--the subject of my first installment of ``Weapons of 
     Medicare Destruction.'' In that piece, I wrote about the 
     sweetheart deals our government made with the politically 
     powerful pharmaceutical companies. Most notable and mind-
     boggling was our government's forfeiting its right to bargain 
     with drug companies for price reductions on the drugs it 
     offered through the Medicare program.
       Further illustrating the unhealthy collusion between our 
     government and the pharmaceutical industry, last week the New 
     York Times reported that employees at companies that the Bush 
     administration certified to distribute the drug discount 
     cards already contributed almost $1.8 million to Republican 
     candidates in this year's election. This included a $275,000 
     contribution to Bush's reelection campaign.
       The drug discount card system exacts a phenomenal waste of 
     effort and time and money that would have been better spent 
     in a more cost-efficient manner by creating direct subsidies 
     to Medicare recipients--like automatic rebate cards.
       Still, we must be wary of any surface deceit offering 
     ``discounts'' because it only masks the real problem: 
     unregulated pharmaceutical costs that are driving our seniors 
     into poverty or to Canada.
       The fact is that ``discounts'' are easily ``discounted'' by 
     the drug companies.
       They can bump up the price of any drug and wipe out the 
     effect of any apparent discount.
       I urge everyone to become ``Armchair Activists'' and to 
     contact their legislators by phone or e-mail to voice concern 
     about prescription drug costs and our government's conflicted 
     relationship with the drug industry. This is not a time to be 
     ``discounted.''

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