If I understand this correctly, the $32/mo is the premium, or, a "contribution" paid by the beneficiary - this doesn't cover the entire funding. I don't know the exact current numbers, but a Medicare beneficiary pays maybe about $50 a month for the parts "A" and "B" - while HCFA funds their medicare carriers for maybe as much as $700 a month. So, the "premium" covers only a fraction of the cost. The *real* funding comes from payroll taxes.
I haven't been following these issues for the past few years, so my numbers are probably off, but the idea is the same.
1/3 hypertensives among adults, and 1/2 hyperlipidemics is higher than "my" guesstimate... will look it up.
Medications cost a lot of money... such is life. Developing, manufacturing and marketing those wonderful "silver bullets" is very expensive. Some waste can be trimmed, but it would still cost a lot.
In most cases, it is possible to find generic medications which will be *nearly* as good as brands, and usually just as good. Lovastatin has ben generic for some time... Zocor - recently shown to be equal to Lipitor (and maybe, as they claim, better in some ways) - will have a generic version next year. |
