NO Rx Benefit for Seniors This Year.

WASHINGTON - June 20, 2002 - The passage of any meaningful Medicare reform bill with prescription drug benefits for seniors is becoming increasingly remote for this year’s session of Congress, federal lawmakers told a gathering of high-level retail executives here Thursday.

Addressing the National Retail Federation’s 67th Annual Washington Leadership Conference, U.S. Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., said the issue of prescription drug benefits for seniors, while a hot election-year topic, was being eclipsed by national security and other concerns. "We want to help ensure that seniors have access to drugs," he said, but added, "There are not many people who are terribly sanguine about the prospects for a prescription drug bill this year."

Other lawmakers at the event echoed that view at the two-day session, which was co-sponsored by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Council of Chain Restaurants. Despite the emergence this week of a controversial new Republican-backed proposal for seniors, the Medicare Modernization and Prescription Drug Act of 2002, lawmakers saw little chance for true Medicare reform amid a crowded agenda. "We’re running into a bit of a logjam," noted Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. "There are a lot of things to do, and we just don’t have a lot of time to do them."

Addressing the gathering, NACDS president and chief executive officer Craig Fuller reiterated his industry’s opposition to the Republican Medicare plan. "This is a very critical issue," he said. "Our opposition to the House bill is based largely on…its [reliance on] PBMs [prescription benefits managers]."

For information on how you can have your patients get the drugs they need, go to www.diabetesmeds.org