Copyright 2002 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution  

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
August 2, 2002 Friday Home Edition
SECTION: Editorial; Pg. 23A

LENGTH: 310 words

HEADLINE: OUR OPINIONS: Keep politics out of drug debate

SOURCE: AJC

BODY:
U.S. Sen. Zell Miller's impassioned plea to senators this week makes one wonder exactly who he's looking out for in the Medicare prescription drug debate --- the incumbents or struggling senior citizens.

"Both parties are running a great risk with their incumbents if we don't" pass a drug plan, he said. "I think that's very dangerous for anybody that is up for re-election."

Such comments confirm the sense that the whole debate over prescription drug coverage has been an election-year pander to the nation's largest voting bloc, senior citizens, rather than a sincere effort to address a serious issue. And that's too bad.

Needy senior citizens should never have to choose between affording groceries or medications. However, while a plan that covers America's neediest elderly is necessary, a plan that willy-nilly pays for every senior citizen's prescription drugs squanders taxpayers' money and is an unnecessary burden on an already-overwhelmed Medicare program.

Miller and his fellow senators did pass a separate bill that will actually help consumers save $60 billion over 10 years on prescription drug costs. The legislation would prevent manufacturers of high-cost, brand-name drugs from unfairly delaying the approval and marketing of cheaper generic equivalents.

The House ought to leap on that legislation, which prohibits brand-name drug companies from repeatedly seeking 30-month patent extensions, automatic under federal law, to keep generic alternatives off the market. The bill would allow just one 30-month automatic patent extension and prohibit companies from bribing generic firms into keeping competitive alternatives off the market permanently.

And after the election, maybe, the House and Senate can both return to the issue of prescription drug coverage in a less political, more practical frame of mind.

LOAD-DATE: August 2, 2002