WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement released by:
Easter Seals Epilepsy Foundation Lupus Foundation of America Men’s Health Network National Alliance for the Mentally Ill National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease National Family Caregivers Association National Health Council National Medical Association National Mental Health Association
The new Medicare prescription drug benefit could improve access to prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries, especially America’s low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities. In order to ensure that this program lives up to its full potential, we urge officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to make key changes in the implementing regulations in order to strengthen patient protections and ensure access to medically necessary drugs. Without such changes, we fear that the program will not fulfill the full promise made when the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) was passed and signed into law last year.
We recognize that implementation of the MMA is a daunting task and applaud CMS for its efforts to date. It is our overriding concern to ensure that this program works for the Medicare beneficiaries with serious and chronic illnesses. The program’s current draft regulations leave some beneficiaries without guaranteed access to the medically necessary drugs they need. We also seek assurances that the prescription drug benefit will include the key beneficiary safeguards provided elsewhere in the Medicare program. Our leading concerns with the current draft regulations include:
* Severely limited drug formularies; * Lack of coverage for accepted off-label uses; * Potential “bait and switch” enrollment practices; * Lack of a fair, expeditious and unburdensome beneficiary appeals process; * Lack of public accountability; and * Absence of special protections for the 6.4 million disabled Americans dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare.
The concerns of Medicare beneficiaries must be at the center of the debate and at the forefront of CMS’ considerations as the agency crafts the final regulations in the next few weeks. Together, we call on CMS to enhance the draft regulations so that seniors and individuals with disabilities will have access to the medicines they need through a prescription drug program that is fair, accountable, and easy-to-use.
The time for public comment on the draft regulations has ended, but we urge concerned citizens to contact their elected officials in Washington, DC - - both in the House of Representatives and the Senate. We ask them to raise these concerns with CMS’ Administrator Mark McClellan and urge him to address the current patient protection deficiencies. Fortunately, though the timeframe is short, there still is an opportunity to meaningfully impact the final regulations.
On behalf of millions of seniors and people with disabilities who every day face the challenges of chronic, serious, disabling, and life-threatening conditions, we call on Congress and CMS to ensure that the Medicare prescription drug program lives up to the promise made one year ago today to America’s seniors and individuals with disabilities.
Additional background materials are available at http://www.lupus.org/; http://www.epilepsy.org/; http://www.nhcouncil.org/; http://www.nmha.org/.
Health Network; National Alliance for the Mentally Ill; National Coalition forWomen with Heart Disease; National Family Caregivers Association; NationalHealth Council; National Medical Association; National Mental HealthAssociation
Easter Seals; Epilepsy Foundation; Lupus Foundation of America; Men’s
CONTACT: Scott Sanders, +1-202-332-2303, for Lupus Foundation ofAmerica