Printable Version
Medicare Budget Press Release
Monday, February 4, 2008
For Immediate Release
$178
Billion in Medicare Cuts Targets
America’s Most
Vulnerable
Alliance for Retired Americans Says
President Bush’s Budget Sacrifices
Seniors’ Health Care for Drug Company
Profits
The following statement
was issued today by George J. Kourpias,
President of the Alliance for Retired
Americans, in response to President
Bush’s final budget proposal.
The
$178 billion in Medicare cuts proposed today by
President Bush targets the most vulnerable
– seniors who need Medicare to afford to
see a doctor – in favor of sustaining
the record profits enjoyed by big drug and
insurance companies. Only in Washington
could this be the work of a
“compassionate
conservative.”
At the same time as
these proposed cuts, the Bush administration
continues to stand by its subsidies to large
insurance companies – estimated to be
$150 billion over the next ten years –
to operate privatized Medicare Advantage plans
at a cost between 12 and 19 percent higher than
allowing Medicare to directly serve these same
people. This siphons away badly-needed
money from the Medicare Trust Fund.
As
retirees struggle to afford their prescription
drugs, the White House is threatening to veto
bipartisan legislation to finally end the
pharmaceutical industry’s sweetheart
deal prohibiting Medicare from negotiating bulk
discounts from drug manufacturers.
Seniors are savvy consumers, and we understand
that you pay less when you buy in bulk.
President Bush’s final budget
proposal continues his legacy of sacrificing
older Americans’ health care needs for
the profits of large corporations.
Grassroots activists with the Alliance for
Retired Americans will mobilize to stop these
cold-hearted cuts to Medicare.
Contact: Marcie Kohenak
(202) 637-5178 or mkohenak@retiredamericans.org