Stronger Medicare with Improved Benefits
Having access to modern health care treatments that
best meet their needs is particularly important for those with
the greatest health care needs - the elderly and persons with
disabilities. President Bush believes the Nation has a moral
obligation to fulfill Medicare's promise of health care
security for America's seniors and people with disabilities.
Medicare has provided this security to millions of Americans
since 1965.
However, as Medicare's lack of prescription drug coverage
demonstrates, Medicare is not keeping up with the rapid
advances in medical care. Medical care this century holds the
promise of improving and extending life through countless
innovations. To ensure that Medicare continues to provide a
secure entitlement for access to modern health care, on July
12, 2001, President Bush proposed a framework to strengthen
Medicare and address its financial security. The framework
includes the following provisions (additional details are at
www.whitehouse.gov):
- Medicare prescription drug coverage available to all
seniors, including lower prices on all prescriptions and
protection against high out-of-pocket drug costs. All of the
new coverage options in Medicare, both an improved
government plan and better private plans, would include
prescription drug coverage.
- An improved government plan with a prescription drug
benefit, better preventive coverage, and better protection
against high medical costs, with more affordable Medigap
(supplemental insurance) options. These improvements would
bring Medicare's required benefits up to date, and would
help seniors avoid the need to buy very costly supplemental
insurance policies to fill the large gaps in Medicare
benefits.
- Reliable private health care options for seniors who
prefer them because of the innovative benefits that private
plans provide - lower out-of-pocket costs, innovative
preventive care, and "disease management" programs for
persons with chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart failure,
and asthma to help them avoid complications and
hospitalizations. Seniors who choose more efficient plans
would be able to use the savings to reduce their Medicare
premiums.
- Allowing seniors to keep the coverage that they have
now, with no changes, if they wish to do so.
As the President continues to work with Congress to address
the threats to our Nation's security, he will also work with
Congress to enact legislation this year to address the
problems facing Medicare. In his budget and State of the Union
address, the President renewed his commitment to provide
prescription drug coverage in Medicare, based on the framework
for bipartisan legislation that he proposed in July 2001. The
President's budget includes $190 billion in net additional
spending for improving Medicare.
Many improvements in Medicare, such as full implementation
of a prescription drug benefit, will take several years to set
up. But some needed improvements in Medicare benefits can
begin to take effect sooner, by building on existing programs.
The President's budget will include proposals which can be
implemented quickly as part of legislation to improve Medicare
benefits. The proposals are based on ideas that have been
proposed previously by Democrats and Republicans. They
include:
- Building on the proposed Medicare Rx Drug Card, by
quickly putting in place the structure for a Medicare drug
benefit that uses the best features of private drug coverage
to get manufacturer discounts and other valuable pharmacy
services for seniors.
- Implementing a new "model waiver" program in Medicaid,
Pharmacy Plus, which will give states more flexibility in
their Medicaid programs to provide prescription drug
coverage for seniors who need help the most.
- Helping states implement comprehensive drug coverage for
low-income beneficiaries as quickly as possible, as part of
the Medicare drug benefit. The Federal government will pay
90 percent of the costs of comprehensive drug coverage for
beneficiaries with incomes between 100 and 150 percent of
poverty. This will provide drug coverage for up to 3 million
additional low-income Medicare beneficiaries before the
Medicare drug benefit can be set up, at a cost of $8 billion
over 3 years. Low-income drug coverage would then be fully
integrated with the new Medicare drug benefit.
- Providing better private health plan options for
Medicare beneficiaries who prefer them, by directing almost
$4 billion to help correct chronic underpayments to
Medicare's private plans and by providing incentives for new
private plans to participate in Medicare.
- Giving seniors access to two additional Medigap
(supplemental coverage) plans, with updated benefits that
provide better protection against high medical expenses and
assistance with prescription drugs at a more affordable cost
than the most popular Medigap plans today.
|