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.
-
England’s ‘dysfunctional’ children’s care systemIn the Spotlight A new report reveals that protection of youngsters in care in England is failing in a profit-chasing sector
-
Cider farms to visit this autumnThe Week Recommends With harvest season fast approaching, spend an afternoon at one of these idyllic orchards
-
Endangered shark meat is being mislabeled and sold in the USUnder the radar It could cause both health and ecological problems
