By Elliot Carlson
September 2002

	Plan-by-Plan List of Pharmacy Assistance Programs Back to the Story

In a poll taken just days after the Senate failed to pass a Medicare prescription drug plan, a majority of Americans age 45 and older say they are angry with U.S. senators.

"And this anger can translate into votes in the November election," AARP research director Jeffrey Love told reporters last month. "Twenty-six percent are willing to vote against their senators on this issue" if the two parties can't work out a compromise agreement.

"The good news," said AARP Director of Advocacy Chris Hansen, "is there is still time to pass a bill and provide older Americans with some desperately needed protection against high drug costs."

Improving the outlook for a bill is the fact voters have expressed themselves so forcefully, Hansen said, adding, "Seniors aren't going to let this issue go."

	The entertaining and informative content on AARP Bulletin Online is just one of the many benefits of AARP membership—only $12.50 a year. Join or renew online today!

Hansen and Love based their views on a AARP-sponsored poll of 1,070 45-plus Americans. Of these, 61 percent said they are angry with their senators; eight in 10 said that it's important to add a drug benefit to Medicare this year.

The poll, conducted for AARP by ICR of Media, Pa., was disclosed at an AARP briefing in Washington.

The findings are "consistent with what we hear from AARP members every day," said Kevin Donnellan, AARP director of grassroots and elections. As a case in point he cited a letter from Dian Hoyt of Cambridge, Ill., whose husband is disabled and requires many drugs. His monthly drug bill: more than $2,000.

"To say that we have problems affording prescriptions is an understatement," she writes. (Read her letter in full.)

During July when the Senate debated the issue, more than 85,000 AARP members called their senators to urge passage of a strong prescription drug bill. "Their voices have been heard," Hansen says. "Their phone calls and letters are a big reason the drug issue will be on the front burner when Congress reconvenes this month."