Medicare & Prescription Drug Benefits

Currently, Medicare Beneficiaries do not receive coverage for prescription drug under Original Medicare. However, President Clinton wants to spend a portion of the surplus to aid in adding a drug benefits clause into Medicare, among other provisions that will aid in making Medicare more cost-effective and efficient.

There are numerous web sites on the web that provide information concerning Medicare and Drug Benefits. These web sites and documents explore the pros and cons of a drug benefits provision. Moreover, the following two links are both subdivisions of web sites and provide comprehensive general knowledge of the current Medicare and Drug Benefits scenario (i.e what is being proposed, what may be more effective, who the proposals will affect, how it will affect certain stakeholders, etc.):

Medicare: A Special Report -- The purpose of this subdivision of the Washington Post web site is to provide an up-too-date overview of Medicare with regard to the drug benefits proposal. The site is quite comprehensive in providing an overview of the current Medicare scenario, background on the debate at hand (complete with perspectives of various groups), and projected future decisions. For instance, there is a link to an article illustrating the lobbyists actions, another link providing an overview of President Clinton's plan, and a link describing the current situation for Medicare beneficiaries. The site is quite easy to use. (Rating: *****)

Purchasing Medicare Prescription Drug Benefits: A New Proposal -- This link is to a subdivision of the Health Affairs magazine web-site. Moreover, through this set of articles, Lynn Etheredge, an independent consultant, proposes a recommendation for adding a drug benefits clause to Medicare. Furthermore, his proposal seeks to accomodate the concerns of both the government and the private sector. Following his proposal are perspectives of two stakeholders. The site provides an interesting perspective to the debate at hand. However, the articles tend to be long and a little tedious to get through. With regard to ease of use, sometimes on has problems moving from page to page or from page to home, etc. (Rating: ***).

Primary stakeholders in the ongoing debate concerning Medicare & Prescription Drug Benefits include the following 6 groups:

AARP/Elderly Population

AARP Research: Health & LTC -- This subdivision of the AARP web-site provides a comprehensive analysis of the current situation Medicare beneficiaries face when trying to obtain prescription drugs. For example, there is a discussion of various drug coverage insurances, the out-of-pocket costs, etc. As to ease of use, it is very easy to move around especially since the various articles have been broken down into 7 specific sections, and each section has its own link. (Rating: *****).

Drug Benefits Under Medicare Managed Care -- This artilce attempts to explain the various choices that Medicare beneficiaries curently have regarding prescription drug benefits under managed care. It is not very difficult to move around through the various pages. The aritlce is easy to read and it is easy to move through the pages, which is especially good for elderly people who may access this article. (Rating: ***).

Executive Branch (President Clinton's Proposal)

President Announces Medicare "Part D" Prescription Drug Benefit -- This subdivision of the Feeley & Driscoll web site provides detailed coverage of President Clinton's drug benefits proposal. The proposal is lengthy and may prove to be laborious to get through. Nonetheless, there is good coverage of President Clinton's proposal. The site is easy to move around in and this article is easy to move through. However, the article is quite tedious and at times it is difficult to understand. (Rating: ** 1/2)

Prescription Drug Spending By Medicare Beneficiaries -- This subdivision of the White House's web site details the current scenario regarding Medicare beneficiaries and prescription drug spending. Aside from this scenario, there are links to other pages describing the importance of drug benefits to Medicare beneficiaries, coverage for prescription drugs, trends, etc. It is quite easy to read since the various points are broken down by bullet points. Moreover, the language is simple. Finally, there is a comprehensive overview of the entire Medicare and prescription drug benefits scenario. (Rating: *****)

Legislative Branch -- Democrats vs. Republicans (vs. the President's plan)

Medicare Beneficiaries Need Drug Coverage -- Breaux-Thomas Proposal Fails the Test -- This subdivision of the Families USA web site, analyzes the proposals concerning drug benefits coverage and Medicare that are recommended. This specific link analyzes the Breaux-Thomas Proposal (Republican), and concludes that this proposal will not benefit Medicare beneficiaries well. The language in the site can become complex, and it can be a little tedious to read through everything. However, if you can oversome this, there are some interesting remarks and conclusions made. (Rating: ** 1/2).

Government & Medicine: How to cover Medicare drugs? -- This article (document) is quite interesting in that the article attempts to take a neutral position while explaining the scenario concerning Medicare, drug benefits, the Republican proposal and the President's proposal. Nevertheless, the article does a good job of painting the current picture of Medicare and drug benefits with relation to the government (executive and legislative), pharmaceuticals, and the elderly. There were no problems being able to move from page to page to read the artilce. Moreover, the artilce is succint and easy to read and understand. (Rating: ****)

HMO & Managed Care

Prescription Drug Benefits: Implications for Beneficiaries of Medicare HMO Use of Formularies - This article is a compilation of abstracts of GAO reports and testimony (FY99). Moreover, this article first explains how Medicare beneficiaries in managed care do have drug benefits coverage, and then, the artilce moves into explaining the anticipated effects of a drug benefits clause to Medicare on managed care. To no ones surprise, the HMOs are not looking forward to an added drug benefits clause to Medicare. The article does provide some interesting comments. However, there is a lot of information to weed through that is not necessarily written quite simply enough, especially for elderly people who may access this artilce. (Rating: **)

Pharmaceutical Companies

BIO -- Prescription Drug Benefits as Part of Medicare Modernization -- This article is the statement to the Senate Finance Commission given by J. Leighton Read on behalf of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Read claims that a drg benefits clause will impact negatively on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and overall, will not benefit Medicare beneficiaries as anticipated. There is ease of use, and the statement is interesting but long. (Rating: ***).

American Dietetic Association

ADA: Testimony: Medicare Prescription Drug Benefits -- This article is the statement of the American Dietetic Association (ADA) to the Senate Finance Committee regarding their perspective on adding a prescription drug benefits clause to Medicare. The ADA does not really take a stand on the issue, and instead introduces the importance of medical nutrition therapy. The statement is two pages, and is okay to read through (not extremely easy in language but not complex either). (Rating: ** 1/2)

Thus, there are a number of players involved in this debate regarding Medicare & Prescription Drug Benefits. Moreover, each player (stakeholder) has a unique perspective on this topic. Finally, below is a table that summarizes the ranking and rating of the 6 sub-divisions of web sites and the 5 documents (articles):
 
Rank  Title  Subdivision or Document Rating 
1 Medicare: A Special Report subdiv. of site *****
2 AARP Research: Health & LTC subdiv. of site *****
3 Prescription Drug Spending By Medicare Beneficiaries subdiv. of site *****
4 Government & Medicine: How to cover Medicare drugs? document ****
5 Purchasing Medicare Prescription Drug Benefits: A New Proposal subdiv. of site ***
6 Drug Benefits Under Medicare Managed Care document  ***
7 BIO -- Prescription Drug Benefits as Part of Medicare Modernization document ***
8 President Announces Medicare "Part D" Prescription Drug Benefit subdiv. of site ** 1/2
9 Medicare Beneficiaries Need Drug Coverage -- Breaux-Thomas Proposal Fails the Test subdiv. of site ** 1/2
10 ADA: Testimony: Medicare Prescription Drug Benefits document **
11 Prescription Drug Benefits: Implications for Beneficiaries of Medicare HMO Use of Formularies document **

 
 
 
Note: The information below may contain additional relevant materials and documents. Some of the information may be duplicate. The evaluations depend on both the student doing the review and the information contained at the time of the review. Sites are subject to change!