How Many Elderly Did the Republicans Kill Today?
[We now are obliged to get most of our regular medications from mail-in arrangements with our health program. The prices of our routine mediations are vastly reduced from the regular cost at a local pharmacy. Occasionally we must get a temporary one from our caring local pharmacy across the street from our neighborhood hospital. Such is generally a heart-breaking experience, as we rarely don't have someone ahead of us shocked by the price of a medication that she (ordinarily a woman) cannot afford to buy. When we were living in Britain as students in the late 1950s, the cost of any and all medications was a shilling -- 12 cents in those days. Here our drug companies -- even with their ad expenditures -- have one of the highest profit returns of any industry. And don't buy their mantra about expenses for developing new drugs. Much of such is paid for by our taxes, many of the drugs they develop are redundant. And they could not care less for those that are not highly profitable -- leaving out those with the rarer medical conditions in need of help. Ed Kent]
Dear PNHP members and friends,
Dr. Oliver Fein, Chair of the NY Metro Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, had the following letter published in the New York Times of Sunday, January 15, 2006.
Best regards, Joanne Landy
To the Editor:
"States Intervene After Drug Plan Hits Early Snags" (front page, Jan. 8) reports that Medicare recipients are being denied promised prescription help. I would add that this has already increased hospitalizations.
I was outraged last week when one of my patients required hospital admission after stopping her medications because she couldn't afford the new $45.57 co-payment demanded by her assigned private pharmaceutical benefit management company. Medicaid had previously covered her prescriptions.
The administration has designed a drug benefit to protect the pharmaceutical industry and discredit Medicare, our one single-payer health insurance program. Today's mess could have been avoided if Congress had included the pharmacy benefit in Medicare and allowed
Medicare to negotiate prices. Congress should make changes in the drug benefit, instead of letting it serve as an opening wedge to privatizing and thus undermining original Medicare. Then it should extend Medicare coverage to everyone.
Oliver Fein, M.D.
New York, Jan. 9, 2006
The writer is chairman of the Metro New York chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort
to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
Dear PNHP members and friends,
Dr. Oliver Fein, Chair of the NY Metro Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, had the following letter published in the New York Times of Sunday, January 15, 2006.
Best regards, Joanne Landy
To the Editor:
"States Intervene After Drug Plan Hits Early Snags" (front page, Jan. 8) reports that Medicare recipients are being denied promised prescription help. I would add that this has already increased hospitalizations.
I was outraged last week when one of my patients required hospital admission after stopping her medications because she couldn't afford the new $45.57 co-payment demanded by her assigned private pharmaceutical benefit management company. Medicaid had previously covered her prescriptions.
The administration has designed a drug benefit to protect the pharmaceutical industry and discredit Medicare, our one single-payer health insurance program. Today's mess could have been avoided if Congress had included the pharmacy benefit in Medicare and allowed
Medicare to negotiate prices. Congress should make changes in the drug benefit, instead of letting it serve as an opening wedge to privatizing and thus undermining original Medicare. Then it should extend Medicare coverage to everyone.
Oliver Fein, M.D.
New York, Jan. 9, 2006
The writer is chairman of the Metro New York chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort
to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
posted by Ed Kent at 7:57 AM
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