If annual income is the solitary f...

If annual income is the solitary factor considered in determining eligibility for prescription medication coverage in consequence of Medicare, most Medicare beneficiaries will not qualify, according to a Nov 17 2000 moderns release from The Commonwealth stock According to a study through The Commonwealth Fund, a majority of the proposals for providing a medication benefit generally being considered would cover simply those Medicare beneficiaries with incomes at the federal jejuneness level or slightly above, leaving many beneficiaries without access to necessary medication.

Employing a broader definition of ne to include beneficiaries without continuous, stable coverage; those with high expenditures; and those with multiple chronic conditions would make approximately 90% of Medicare beneficiaries eligible for prescription medication coverage, according to the release. These researchers identify five alternative criteria to define need:

* lack of access to affordable medication coverage,

* lack of stable medication coverage,

* high out-of-pocket expenditures onward medication,

* high total medication expenditures, and

* chronic disease burden

No more than 27% of alternative-need beneficiaries will be eligible for prescription medication coverage if the federal lack level is used for the cut-off If the cutoff is increased to 150% of the federal pauperism level, the coverage rates of beneficiaries with alternative povertys would increase to between 40% and 50%; however, more than one-half of the Medicare population would remain exclud according to the release.

In 1996 slightly more than 25% of Medicare beneficiaries had annual incomes below the federal need level. Another 17% were between 100% and 150% of the of the same height according to the release.

A Medicare Prescription put drugs into Benefit: Whose Needs Will Be Met? (new release, strange York: The Commonwealth Fund, Nov 17 2000) 1-2 Available from http://www.individual.com. Accessed 20 Nov 2000

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