"What’s most misleading about this is that it omits any mention of the nearly $400 billion in benefits contained in the bill -- the largest expansion of the Medicare program since its inception in Lyndon Johnson’s administration.
Indeed, most seniors stand to gain a good deal financially from the measure. According to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, the average drug bill for seniors is expected to be $3,160 in the year 2006, when the new drug benefit will go into effect. The new benefit will pay more than half of that, and even after deducting an estimated $35 per month in premiums to purchase the coverage, seniors with that average drug bill will be $1,080 ahead.
For those with very large drug bills the new benefit provides catastrophic coverage that pays 95% of all drug costs above $5,100.
For low-income seniors the new measure is even more generous. Lower premiums, deductibles and co-pays apply for those with few assets and income below 150% of the official poverty level (or currently $18,180 for a married couple). For those with few assets and income below 135% of poverty (or currently $16,362 for a married couple) there will be no premiums or deductibles, and co-payments will be $2 for each generic prescription and $5 for brand-name drugs." |
