Congress's dramatic pre-dawn votes on Friday to add prescription drug benefits to Medicare were a political milestone, authorizing the biggest expansion of the program since its birth. But health policy analysts say that, even if the House and the Senate are able to resolve differences between their bills, it is far from certain the plan would work.
The drug coverage envisioned by Congress and the White House relies on two kinds of private insurance methods: separate policies solely for drugs, something that does not currently exist, and preferred-provider networks, a health plan that is common among younger people but includes few Medicare patients.
According to policy specialists, industry lobbyists, Wall Street analysts and health care executives, not one company has said publicly that it would sign up for either of these new marriages with Medicare, and the willingness of insurers to take part remains an open question.
"There is no solid commitment to participate," even though lawmakers have been developing the idea of federal drug benefits for years before last week's votes, said Robert L. Laszewski, a Washington-based health policy consultant whose clients include several of the nation's leading health insurers. "That has got to be a big yellow light to what Congress . . . is doing."
If aWol's malAdministration was serious about the Prescription Drug plan -- that is, if they wanted it as anything other than triangulation for the 2004 election --they would have (a) funded it (Not! The tax cuts!) and (b) made sure the privatization part at least had an insurance company on board.
Surely aWol's corporatist regime could have gotten at least one insurance company to sign on? They didn't. So they aren't serious.
But heck, the whole flimsy, fraudulent kludge doesn't kick in 'til 2006, well after the 2004 election, so aWol's latest con may go undetected until then.
Just amazing. A bandaid for prescription drugs, when the cancer is the lack of national health insurance. No, not amazing. Bidness as usual.