FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FEBRUARY 28, 2002

CONTACT: Jennifer Laudano (202) 628-3030 jlaudano@familiesusa.org

BUSH'S PRESCRIPTION DRUG CARD PROPOSAL IS MUCH ADO ABOUT VERY LITTLE

Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, released the following statement in response to the Bush Administration's discount card proposal that was made available today and will be published in the Federal Register tomorrow:

"The President's discount card proposal offers little in terms of prescription drug price relief for America's seniors. Despite skyrocketing pharmaceutical costs that are making drugs more and more unaffordable for seniors, this proposal offers very meager price relief.

"According to the Administration, this proposal - at best - will provide 12.4 percent in savings to seniors, and for most seniors we believe it will be considerably less. We believe the Administration's discount card proposal falls short of providing real savings to Medicare beneficiaries for the following reasons:

• There are no specific provisions encouraging card sponsors to favor the use of lower-cost generic drugs. Since generic drugs offer the greatest potential for savings to the consumer, any program that does not encourage the use of generics is missing a tremendous opportunity to increase savings to the beneficiary.
  
• There is no guaranteed discount for Medicare beneficiaries. The amount of the discount will vary from drug to drug and plan to plan, and there is nothing that requires any specific drug to be discounted - or that any discount that may be provided to be more than nominal.
• It is unclear whether pharmaceutical manufacturers, who are responsible for three-fourths of drug costs, will volunteer to offer meaningful discounts through this program.

"President Bush's discount card proposal will do little to address the growing problem of affordability. Seniors depend on prescription drugs far more than any other population and are the least likely to have drug coverage. As drug prices continue to rise at two and even three times the rate of inflation, more seniors will find themselves unable to afford their medications. Nominal discounts, as proposed by the Administration, will do little to offset rapidly rising drug costs. It is clear, therefore, that President Bush's discount card proposal will not give seniors the relief they desperately need."