WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) issued today’s “Bush Administration’s
Misstatement of the Day” on the Medicare bill signed today by President
Bush. (Read
Schakowsky’s reaction to the bill signing)
The
Center for American Progress released a report today titled “Claim v. Fact:
Medicare Bill Signing.” For example:
President
Bush said, "For the first time we are giving seniors peace of mind that
they will not have to face unlimited expenses for their medicine."
[George
W. Bush 12/08/03]
However,
according to the New
York Times (12/7/03): "[The] Medicare drug plan could further limit
coverage by establishing a list of preferred medicines known as a formulary...
Medicare would not have to pay anything for drugs left off the list...if
a beneficiary bought drugs not listed on the formulary, the bill says,
those costs would not be counted toward the $3,600 limit."
Claim
v. Fact: Medicare Bill Signing
(Center
for American Progress)
Claim:
"A
lot of this happened -- this bill happened because of grassroots work.
A lot of our fellow citizens took it upon themselves to agitate for change,
to lobby on behalf of what's right" [George
W. Bush 12/08/03]
Fact:
"Drug
companies and their trade associations deployed nearly 700 lobbyists to
stamp out any proposals that would result in the federal government negotiating
the cost of drugs or otherwise limiting the industry’s astronomical profits."
[Public
Citizen Report, 06/03]
Claim:
"Some
older Americans spend much of their Social Security checks just on their
medications. Some cut down on the dosage to make a bottle of pills last
longer. Elderly Americans should not have to live with those kinds of fears
and hard choices. This new law will ease the burden on seniors and will
give them the extra help they need." [George
W. Bush 12/08/03]
Facts:
"[U]nder
the new plan, seniors in the middle income quintile will pay an average
of $1,650 a year in out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs in 2006.
This figure is nearly 60 percent more than they paid in 2000, even after
adjusting for inflation. Expenses are projected to continue to rise so
that by 2013 middle-income seniors will be paying more than two and a half
times as much for prescription drugs (adjusting for inflation) as they
did in 2000." [CEPR
Report, 12/04/03]
"[T]he
insurance plan would provide little relief for about 3 million people with
moderate assets and incomes near the poverty level and would cost seniors
with drug expenses under $835 a year more than they currently spend." [Boston
Globe, 11/18/03]
Claim:
"For
the first time we are giving seniors peace of mind that they will not have
to face unlimited expenses for their medicine." [George
W. Bush 12/08/03]
Fact:
"[The]
Medicare drug plan could further limit coverage by establishing a list
of preferred medicines known as a formulary... Medicare would not have
to pay anything for drugs left off the list...if a beneficiary bought drugs
not listed on the formulary, the bill says, those costs would not be counted
toward the $3,600 limit." [NYT,
12/07/03]
Claim:
"Bill
Novelli, the CEO of AARP, stood strong in representing the people he was
supposed to represent." [George
W. Bush 12/08/03]
Fact:
"A
poll last week by Hart Research showed that 65 percent of AARP members
want Congress to go back to the drawing board." [Alameda
Times Star, 12/06/03]
Claim:
"[T]his
legislation is a victory for all of America's seniors." [George
W. Bush 12/08/03]
Facts:
"Corporate
lobbying groups are emerging as winners, having pushed hard for a bill
in order to shift some of their costs to the government...companies can
opt in, taking the proposed tax-free federal subsidy and shifting some
costs to the government, or opt out and possibly cut or eliminate their
own coverage altogether, a trend that is already under way." [WSJ,
11/18/03]
"For
the drug industry, the legislation is good news...Drug makers believe individual
private buyers are less able to push down prices than a centralized government
purchaser with a pool of 40 million patients." [WSJ,
11/18/03]
"A
substantial number of the 6.4 million low-income Medicare beneficiaries
who also are eligible for Medicaid and currently receive prescription drug
coverage through Medicaid would be made worse off under the Medicare conference
agreement." [Center of
Budget and Policy Priorities Report, 11/21/03]
"Millions
of Medicare beneficiaries have bought private insurance to fill gaps in
Medicare. But a little-noticed provision of the legislation prohibits the
sale of any Medigap policy that would help pay drug costs after Jan. 1,
2006, when the new Medicare drug benefit becomes available." [NYT,
12/07/03]
"The
Congressional Budget Office estimates about 2.7 million seniors could lose
benefits that may be more generous than those that will be offered under
Medicare." [USA
Today, 11/25/03] |