'Going to have to sell my house ... or die'

[question everything]

'Going to have to sell my house ... or die'

Medicare drug plan gap has some paying dearly

By Keith Darcé
STAFF WRITER

July 16, 2006

Frank Harrison says he's facing a choice between his health and his house. When the Spring Valley retiree hit a coverage cap in his federal prescription drug plan in early June, his monthly medicine costs skyrocketed from about $250 to about $1,800, largely because of two expensive immune suppression drugs that he has taken since a kidney transplant six years ago.

The 62-year-old former computer company operations manager, whose main income comes from Social Security disability benefits, stopped taking one of the drugs, which cost about $575 a month, so that he could keep paying his $750 mortgage payment. “What it boils down to pretty soon is that I'm going to have to sell my house. It's either that or die,” he said.

Harrison is among the 3.4 million seniors and disabled Americans who have begun to fall into a gap in Medicare Part D coverage. They must pay the full price for drugs after they've spent $2,250 in co-payments and until their out-of-pocket costs reach $5,100 for the year. Those in the so-called “doughnut hole” are likely to cut back on medicines to save money even if doing so jeopardizes their health, according to some research.

(snip)

Congress created the Part D gap when lawmakers created the drug insurance program in 2003. The measure was added to reduce the program's overall cost. Lawmakers reasoned that only a tiny portion of Part D participants would reach the gap and most would be without coverage only for a short period.

(snip)

That's what Kaiser Permanente researcher John Hsu found when he studied about 200,000 Medicare beneficiaries in 2003 who participated in a more limited government prescription drug program that predated Part D. The results, published in the June 1 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine, found that people whose drug benefits were capped at $1,000 a year had higher rates of emergency room visits, hospitalization and death than those with unlimited coverage. Hsu attributed the increases to people ending drug treatments once the insurance cap was reached. The cost for additional medical care offset the lower drug cost savings created by the cap, he reported.

(snip)


Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060716/news_1b16drug.html

[pitohui]

1. what good will selling his house do?

does he think he is going to be able to rent anywhere much cheaper than $750 a month?

[question everything]

3. If he has a lot of equity, and living in SoCal

he probably does, he hopes that the proceeds would pay for both rent - yes probably twice what he pays now - and his medications.

[pitohui]

4. ok i see that

san diego, huh, i was just thinking abt the high high rents but not thinking abt how much equity he might have if he has had his house a long time

well i guess that's one argument for buying a house when you're young and staying in it, in event of emergency you can do something like that

[roguevalley]

6. working people's usually only asset is their house.

[rodeodance]

2. " Lawmakers reasoned"--this was the first mistake!

[izzie]

5. I know people that have to do something about house cost.

Heat and lights are driving them crazy, plus they have to drive cars. The drug stuff on top must really be getting to this man. He also has to heat and cool his home. If he is retired his gas cost may still be within reason. I fill my car once a month and it is about 3 times higher than last year but I can cut down on trips as I am retired.

[Stargazer99]

7. Republican way of killing

off the weak and impoversed without appearing evil. Medicare part D is the vehicle. What a farce! This was supposed to help pepole at least that is the smoke screen the Republicans put out. What a nasty group of well heeled people.

[AtomicKitten]

8. There's a huge gap in the Medicare drug plan.

They knew it all along.

[Rosemary2205]

9. Doing away with free meds programs is what burns me up

lower income folk like Mr Harrison were previously welcome to apply to each drug company for free meds. The drug companies even put the forms on the internet to take to the doctor. Med part D did away with all that.

www.needymeds.com is a portal for the free meds program. Nearly all the drugs that used to be covered now state those eligible for Med part D will not be covered after 2006.

This program didn't cost the gov't a damn thing. It was a pure giveaway to the drug companies.

Assinine.