The Bush Administration claims that seniors and individuals with disabilities will soon be able to use discount drug cards to save between 10 and 25 percent on the cost of their prescription drugs, but Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, says the unfortunate joke is on seniors.

"These discount cards are worthless. They will replace the three dollar bill as the currency medium for purchasing drugs for a large portion of the senior population," said Dingell.

While seniors may pay up to $30 each year for a discount drug card, there is no guarantee that the prescription drugs they need will be covered by the card. At any given time, the card issuer can change the drugs that are covered and the price of the drugs. To add to the confusion, seniors must choose from more than 16 different cards to determine whether or not they will save money. This on top of several discount cards already in the marketplace.

And seniors should not count on savings. The prices of prescription drugs will continue to increase, resulting in smaller savings than projected. According to the Wall Street Journal last week, the prices of many widely used drugs have surged since President Bush first proposed a Medicare drug discount card in mid-2000 – some more than three times faster on average than overall inflation between January 2002 and 2003. Families USA understands this, warning that seniors will be vulnerable to price increases by the drug industry, "like a department store marking up prices on products so that it can later offer them ‘on sale’ at tremendous ‘savings.’"

"Under the guise of giving seniors a prescription drug discount card to help them save money, the Bush Administration has protected drug industry profits while playing an April Fool’s joke on seniors," said Dingell.