Washington, D.C.
Medicare began signing up the first participants for a new prescription drug benefit this week, but many of the nation’s elderly remained confused about the program. Participants will pay a premium and a deductible, but the federal government will spend $720 billion over the next 10 years subsidizing the cost of their medicines. Congress approved the benefit with great fanfare in 2003 as part of the Medicare Modernization Act. A recent survey showed that 37 percent of eligible Americans don’t want anything to do with the program, while 31 percent had a favorable opinion. Another 31 percent didn’t know enough about it to say. One doctor associated with the survey said there was no easy answer to the “critical question: ‘What does this mean for me?’”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Frauds: ‘fantastically stylish’ crime heist caper is a ‘triumph’The Week Recommends Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker play a pair of ex-cons planning one last job
-
The struggles of Aston MartinIn the Spotlight The car manufacturer, famous for its association with the James Bond franchise, is ‘running out of road’
-
The end of ‘golden ticket’ asylum rightsThe Explainer Refugees lose automatic right to bring family over and must ‘earn’ indefinite right to remain
