hased policies are available, such as Medigap. This may be the only option for a lot of the Medicare recipients who do not have any drug coverage. But such policies are not feasible for many of these people with no coverage because of high premiums. High deductibles, high cost-sharing, and benefit caps are other aspects of Medigap that make it difficult or irrational for many people to purchase. Another option for non-covered seniors on Medicare is to get prescription-drug coverage through their state Medicaid programs. This option, however, is not always available because their income may be too high, or their assest are not sufficiently low to qualify for Medicaid. These barriers to finding available and affordable prescription-drug coverage have fueled the argument for adding a prescription-drug benefit to Medicare.Political RhetoricThroughout the debate over this issue, both candidates have portrayed our nation’s senior citizens as victims of out-of-control drug prices, unable to pay the backbreaking prescription prices that they must pay in order to be healthy. However, as mentioned earlier, two-thirds of all senior citizens will pay less than $500 in out-of-pocket drug costs per year, while only 7% will pay more than $2000. And not all of those that fall within the 7% are necessarily those who do not have any drug coverage. In the same research cited above by the AARP Public Policy Institute, it was discovered that those with drug coverage from individually purchased policies such as Medigap have some of the highest average annual out-of-pocket costs at $570 per year. This is just less than the average for those with no coverage at all. Simply having coverage doesn’t necessarily protect seniors from huge costs that they are unable to bear.The real issue then becomes whether or not a substantial number of senior citizens actually face serious financial difficulties because of prescription-drug costs. A USA T...
