FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2002

CONTACT: Jennifer Laudano Kati Anderson (202) 628-3030

THE GRAHAM-MILLER PLAN WOULD PROVIDE WELCOME RELIEF FROM SKYROCKETING DRUG PRICES

The Grassley Medicare plan is not the answer for America's seniors

Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers, released the following statement today concerning the competing prescription drug proposals in the Senate:

"Seniors can't afford to wait any longer for a meaningful prescription drug benefit in the Medicare program. The House of Representatives passed an inadequate bill, and now the Senate has the opportunity to provide real relief for America's seniors.

"The Graham-Miller plan would provide welcome relief, but the Grassley plan would not. Like the House Republican bill, the Grassley plan relies heavily on the private market to offer drug coverage. Yet, the private market has a reputation of failing seniors. Throwing money at the insurance industry wastes precious Medicare dollars. The Grassley proposal compares unfavorably to the Graham-Miller plan and falls short in three major areas:

"First, the Grassley proposal does not guarantee drug coverage for America's seniors. This is because the proposal seeks to provide prescription drug coverage through private insurance companies-rather than through the Medicare program. Insurance companies have a miserable record of providing prescription drug coverage for seniors. Seniors would have no certainty about the premiums they would need to pay, the cost-sharing they would bear, the drugs that would be covered, and under what conditions they could obtain those drugs. The Graham-Miller plan, on the other hand, provides a guaranteed drug benefit in the Medicare program that would be available in every community throughout the United States.

"Second, for those who could get coverage, the Grassley plan provides a meager benefit. As a result, millions upon millions of seniors would remain unable to afford the medicines they need [see attached charts]. Under the Grassley proposal, seniors would continue to pay most drug costs out of their own pockets. The Graham-Miller plan, however, provides substantially more relief, thereby helping to make medicines more affordable.

"Third, the Grassley plan fails to take any specific steps to put the brakes on skyrocketing drug prices. In comparison, the Graham-Miller plan uses the purchasing power of Medicare's 40 million beneficiaries to lower drug prices. Together with McCain-Schumer, the legislation designed to increase competition by enabling cheaper generic drugs to get to market earlier, the Graham-Miller plan would help to moderate drug prices.

"Therefore, it is clear that the Graham-Miller plan is the only plan that would guarantee meaningful drug coverage in Medicare and provide much-needed price relief for America's seniors."

See attached charts. The release and charts are available on the Families USA web site, http://www.familiesusa.org/.

Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan and advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.