Give Mom the
Best Gift of All: Great Savings for Good Health
By Richard Dolinar,
MD
Phoenix, AZ
If you're still stumped on what to get mom this
Mother's Day, here's an idea. If she is 65 or
older and is not yet enrolled in the new drug
benefit under Medicare, help her get online or
call 1-800-MEDICARE and enroll her in a new plan
before the clock runs out.While over 30 million
seniors have already enrolled, many still haven't
taken advantage of reducing their monthly prescription
drug costs under this new benefit. Those who miss
the May 15th deadline will have to wait until
November before the next enrollment begins. And
then their premiums will be 6 percent higher.
In California, the average senior can reduce his
drug premium anywhere from 33% to 59%.
Medicare Part D is different from traditional
government programs, like Medicare Part B or the
Veterans Affairs drug benefit. That's because
unlike those other programs, Part D takes advantage
of competition between private companies. These
companies compete for the business of seniors
- and the result is more drug-plan choices for
lower prices.
In fact, Medicare Part D is actually administered
by private companies, not the federal government.
As these companies jockey against each other like
Coke and Pepsi to provide you with the best plans
Medicare Part D has achieved quality and savings
no one thought possible. That's the power of competition
in a free market.
In California, there are a full 47 plans currently
available, with monthly premiums starting as low
as $5.41. This is far cheaper than anyone expected.
Unfortunately, many policymakers in Washington
DC can't stand the idea of giving up any control
over their taxpayer cookie jar. So they want to
put the federal government in charge of drug pricing
- which would effectively put an end to the private-sector
competition and instead create a new system where
the federal government dictates drug prices. They
should reconsider. I've witnessed first hand the
harsh impact price controls have had on doctors
and hospitals. Let me give you just one example:
Hospitals have been under price controls for many
years. Because of this, the monies available to
pay nurses has been limited. The result? A severe
nursing shortage across the entire United States.
The consequences of this shortage are difficult
to overstate. After all, it's the nurses who actually
treat patients. Without enough nurses, hospital
care suffers across the board.
Modeling the new Medicare drug benefit on the
VA system - or any other price-control model -
would invariably result in a similar shortage
of drugs.
Those who advocate price-controls also don't seem
to understand how the free market works. Market
competition protects consumers far better than
government - with its $400 hammers and $600 toilet
seats - ever could.
Decreasing prices by federal law doesn't make
costs go away. It simply decreases availability
and results in shortages. These shortages are
manifested many ways in healthcare. They include
delay in getting care, prolonged suffering and
in some cases even death.
For example, in Canada, approval of AIDS drugs
takes twice as long as in the United States. Why?
Because in Canada's price-controlled system, the
government cuts costs by not approving cutting-edge
drugs. Who suffers? The patient, that's who. Who
dies? The patient ... but unfortunately not the
legislation, which contributed to his early demise.
My colleagues and I often meet patients who have
come from Canada because they cannot access the
drugs or medical services they need to treat their
conditions. That's the reality of price controls.
If such price controls are enacted, Medicare Part
D would metastasize into a cancer that would lead
directly to drug rationing, stifled research and
stalled innovation. We would all suffer.
So instead of clamoring for more government control
over the drug benefit, policymakers should give
the free market a chance to work. Then they could
devote their energies to encouraging seniors -
like the 4,224,025 who are eligible in California
- to sign up for the Part D plan.
What better gift to give mom than great savings
for good health?
(Richard Dolinar, M.D. is a practicing endocrinologist
in Phoenix and is a senior fellow at The Heartland
Institute (http://www.heartland.org).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
