SENIORS ANXIOUS ABOUT RISING DRUG COSTS, FEDERAL INACTION.

Byline: Mariko Thompson Staff Writer

In the political debate over a Medicare prescription drug benefit for seniors, everyone agrees the elderly need coverage. The question is how extensive the coverage should be.

Virginia Davis, 72, of North Hills doesn't want a government handout. What she wants is a reasonable price. She says it's unfair that the same drugs cost less in Canada. She says it's unfair that the pharmaceutical companies have more than doubled their retail prices over 10 years, even as they spend billions on marketing.

Davis fills $375 worth of medications each month for her hiatal hernia, high blood pressure and arthritis. This year, her Medicare HMO plan reduced her prescription drug benefit from $2,500 to $1,000. That means she'll pay $3,500 out of pocket instead of $2,000. To stretch her supply of hiatal hernia medication, Davis takes one pill daily instead of two.

``I've cut back on meds,'' Davis said. ``You do the best you can under the circumstances.''

The rising cost of prescription drugs combined with the lack of comprehensive coverage can be physically and financially devastating for seniors. A recent survey reporting that retirees skipped medications in order to pay for other basic necessities didn't come as a surprise to advocates for seniors or health care policy experts.

``A prescription drug benefit for seniors is a political slam dunk, but the Democrats and Republicans can't get together and they can't agree,'' said Mark Beach, spokesman for the California American Association for Retired People. ``While this is happening, people are continuing to suffer and make hard financial decisions.''

Traditional Medicare allows the greatest choice in doctors, but doesn't provide prescription drug coverage. The most recent proposal rejected by the Senate this year came with a $390 billion price tag over 10 years. The bill was criticized for assisting the healthiest and the sickest while doing little or nothing for those in between.

A major sticking point is the role that the government should play. Democrats have pitched programs that expand Medicare, while Republicans have pushed for proposals that rely on private insurance companies. Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Oxnard, cited those differences even as he laid the blame on the Democrat-controlled Senate.

``The fact is we passed a comprehensive plan out of the House,'' Gallegly said. ``It didn't mandate to everyone that they be forced to take a government program. They had options and electives.''

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, told seniors at a meeting at the ONE Senior Center in Reseda last month that a benefit executed by private insurance companies wouldn't give much security.

``It's critical that it be part of Medicare,'' he said. ``Whether you need an aspirin or anti-rejection drugs after a transplant, you need to know your costs are going to be covered so your budget won't be destroyed.''

With the war on terrorism, defense and education all vying for federal dollars, public policy experts are skeptical Congress will pass a prescription drug benefit this year.

``The fate of the drug benefit debate was settled the day we passed the tax cut,'' said Len Nichols, an economist and vice president of the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington, D.C. ``The tax cut is so large, in truth, there isn't enough money left to fund a fully adequate drug benefit over 10 years. Everything then got a whole lot harder.''

CAPTION(S):

chart

Chart:

RISING COST OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

SOURCE: ``Prescription Drug Trends,'' Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation