LACO Seeks Improvements in Medicare Bills

AARP Threatens to Oppose Final Bill

July 21, 2003
Members of the more than 50 organizations that make up the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations have sent a strongly worded letter to both the House and Senate urging "important improvements in the Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act (HR.1 and S.1) during the Conference Committee process."

The letter cites the following:

• opposition to using higher premiums to drive seniors and people with disabilities into private plans and turning Medicare into a voucher-type program;
• the need for a reliable, dependable system to deliver the prescription drug benefit to everyone;
• the need for substantial relief from the penalty imposed under both bills on employers who currently provide retiree coverage;
• support for a requirement to include all Medicare eligibles in Medicare as primary payer and to provide the Senate's special assistance, particularly in the 'donut hole,' for lower-income beneficaries;
• support for the strongest possible efforts to moderate pharmaceutical drug price inflation;
• support for the deletion of last-minute, massive tax breaks included in the bills which fail to help the uninsured and reduce resources available to the nation;
• opposition to means testing the Medicare program;
• support for a benefit package that enables beneficiaires to be able to compare plans and make intelligent choices by limiting the range of variation in premiums and benefit packages; and
• opposition to increases in Part B deductibles and home health co-payments.

In another letter sent to Capitol Hill this week, AARP, the nation's largest organization representing senior citizens, threatened to oppose the final Medicare bill unless major improvements are made.

The AARP letter called on the Conference Committee to produce "a better bill than the ones passed by either house."

The letter notes that there are "a number of fundamental issues - primarily the program structure and the adequacy and affordability of the benefit package - that must be fixed before AARP and its members could support the final conference agreement."