oracle
07-23-2002, 11:12 PM
We Filled the Prescription (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53623-2002Jul23.html)
By Dan Rostenkowski
Wednesday, July 24, 2002; Page A19
I have a prescription drug plan for you. Here's what it does:
It pays 80 percent of drug costs after a $710 deductible has been met, and it costs a relatively modest amount -- a $4-a-month premium for 40 percent of beneficiaries and a maximum of $800 a year for the richest 5 percent.
It'll never happen, you say. Well, it already has. Just such a plan was enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Reagan in 1988. Unfortunately, mistakes were made in implementing the plan, and it was repealed a year later. But the concept behind it is worth another look today, as we contemplate huge new federal expenditures for prescription drugs for the elderly.
Of course, if we attempted something similar now, the numbers would be different. Because of inflation, the basic monthly premium would be nearly $8, the maximum premium would be in the $1,600 range and the deductible would rise to nearly $1,100.
It's important to note that the original program was designed to cost the federal government nothing. It was to be self-financed by the elderly population. That was a big issue back then, when people were concerned about big deficits and the need to bring the budget back into balance.
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Click here to read more (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53623-2002Jul23.html)
By Dan Rostenkowski
Wednesday, July 24, 2002; Page A19
I have a prescription drug plan for you. Here's what it does:
It pays 80 percent of drug costs after a $710 deductible has been met, and it costs a relatively modest amount -- a $4-a-month premium for 40 percent of beneficiaries and a maximum of $800 a year for the richest 5 percent.
It'll never happen, you say. Well, it already has. Just such a plan was enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Reagan in 1988. Unfortunately, mistakes were made in implementing the plan, and it was repealed a year later. But the concept behind it is worth another look today, as we contemplate huge new federal expenditures for prescription drugs for the elderly.
Of course, if we attempted something similar now, the numbers would be different. Because of inflation, the basic monthly premium would be nearly $8, the maximum premium would be in the $1,600 range and the deductible would rise to nearly $1,100.
It's important to note that the original program was designed to cost the federal government nothing. It was to be self-financed by the elderly population. That was a big issue back then, when people were concerned about big deficits and the need to bring the budget back into balance.
...
Click here to read more (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53623-2002Jul23.html)