Major Health Crisis
The
The Dept. of Health and Human Services in September 2005 said one in five people under the age of 45 are uninsured and that the primary reason is cost. Most working families’ have incomes that make them ineligible for virtually all Prescription Assistance Programs (PAPs). In 2006, many PAPs stopped covering most Medicare Part D patients who can’t afford their medications. Almost all PAPs only assist people with very low incomes and assets.
A 2006 Kaiser Family Foundation poll indicated that about half of all doctors ignore the soaring medication costs of treatment. Among the reasons named; 53% of them said that they don’t have enough time; 51% said they don’t know how to help patients lower their out-of-pocket costs, 23% say they don’t discuss costs because they don’t think it’s their responsibility, 16% think it would be embarrassing for patients and 15% believe costs are not a concern for their patients.
A great many of the traditional resources for families to afford their medications are no longer available. To limit costs of benefits, an ever increasing number of companies have dropped or severely limited prescription medication coverage.
A survey by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality showed half the people limit health care costs so much that 32 times as more money is spent on the other half.
On
The Journal of General
Internal Medicine, published by Springer New York, in February 2007 studied the
cost variations in estimated Medicare Part D prescription drug plan costs and
affordability for beneficiaries living in different states.
Families in different states with low-income to zero income were studied
who had chronic illnesses and multiple medications.
They found widely differing costs making it more difficult for some to
afford their medications. The costs
varied from $300.00 to $1300.00 per month depending upon where they lived.
Many people say that
Medicare should not negotiate drug prices even though it is the most efficient
health care system in the country. In
a
A 2006 New England Journal of Medicine article about unintended consequences of caps on Medicare drug benefits”, concluded that people reaching the Part D donut hole drastically reduced their drugs due to expense resulting in a 22.3% mortality increase.
PLEASE NOTE: You may not agree with all of these disturbing items from respected sources. We presented a number of them so that people would have a harder time discounting the degree of the problems. If you do not like one item... just look at the others. The pattern is clear.