Medicare reform plans don’t satisfy AARP
By HME News Staff
Updated Sun August 31, 2003
WASHINGTON - House and Senate proposals for a Medicare drug benefit don't meet the needs of the AARP's 35 million members, the group stated in an 8-page letter to Congress in July.
Among other things, the AARP wants any Medicare reform to:
- not create incentives for employers to drop retiree coverage;
- ensure prescription drug coverage in all areas of the country;
- guarantee the same level of benefit to all beneficiaries regardless of income.
If the final agreement “does more harm than good, based on the concerns enumerated in this letter, we will not hesitate to oppose it,” wrote AARP Executive Director William Novelli.
Ultimately, even if the House and Senate can't agree on a new prescription drug benefit when they return from their August recess, they could still take up other elements of Medicare reform, including those that affect home medical equipment providers, suggests Dave Williams, Invacare's director of government relations. HME
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