Some Experts Foresee Revolt by Elderly Over Drug Benefits

[aeon flux]

"Trading in a Cadillac for a Chevrolet."

I hope seniors organize a demand to repeal this lemon.

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New York Times

With good intentions and bright advisers, Congress overwhelming passed legislation in 1988 that would insure the elderly against catastrophic medical expenses, including crushing drug costs.

But affluent retirees quickly concluded that they were being asked to pay for something that their employers already gave. They rose in revolt. Congress repealed the legislation within months.

Some experts envision a similar fate for the Medicare drug benefit that the Senate sent to President Bush's desk yesterday. The legislation provides billions in tax incentives to discourage employers from dropping the drug benefits that they provide to about 11 million retirees. But if, as pessimists expect, many large employers calculate that the incentives are not enough, millions more retirees than Congress expects will watch as their relatively rich private drug benefits are replaced by the government's more meager package.

They will be forced to trade in a Cadillac for a Chevrolet, and that is a recipe for another revolt by the elderly, some experts say.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/26/politics/26DRUG.html?hp