Gwen Graham: “I have many concerns with this legislation. Probably at its core is the fact that we are about to adopt a prescription…”

“I have many concerns with this legislation. Probably at its core is the fact that we are about to adopt a prescription drug benefit for 39 million older and disabled Americans, of which there is no current model. Virtually every question about this legislation has to be answered at a theoretical level because we cannot say the Federal health insurance plan that covers Federal employees, or a Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan, or any other plan has provisions to dispense prescription drugs through a prescription drug-only insurance policy. In my judgment, that is a very fundamental concern that we should share. Understand that we are about to conduct a gigantic social experiment on 39 million Americans, many of whom are the sickest, most frail, most vulnerable of our citizens. I am here today to talk about a specific troubling aspect of this legislation, and that is what has been referred to as the ``sick tax.'' What do we mean by that? This bill includes what has come to be known as either the donut hole or the benefit shutdown. I think it is more like a black hole. Here is how that hole would develop. Seniors who sign up for this new benefit will face a gap in those benefits. Once a senior has reached $4,500 in drug spending, the Medicare prescription drug benefit evaporates, the senior falls into the black hole and gets no help with his or her prescriptions for the next $1,312.50. I know of no insurance plan that has such a gap in coverage.”