Alliance Rallies Behind Drug Benefit for Seniors
Former IAM President George Kourpias, right, now head of the Alliance for Retired Americans, and IAM Retirees and Community Services Director Maria Cordone meet with Senator Ted Kennedy.
A militant, new voice for older Americans now echoes across Capitol Hill: the Alliance for Retired Americans. Led by former IAM President George Kourpias, the 2.5 million-member Alliance made prescription drug coverage for all Medicare recipients its top priority.
In its comprehensive report "The Profit In Pills," the Alliance linked excessive profits by drug companies to exorbitant prescription drug prices.
Drug companies had after-tax median profits of 18.6 percent in 2000, compared to just 4.9 percent for all other Fortune 500 companies combined.
Soaring prescription drug prices have forced many retirees to buy pill cutters -- to cut their pills in half at the expense of their health.
The Alliance concluded that drug prices increased by 306 percent between 1981 and 1999, while the consumer price index (CPI) rose by only 99 percent.
Average
prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients increased from $674 a-year
in 1996 to $1,539 last year. In 10 years, that figure is projected to hit
$3,751.Roughly one-third of Medicare recipients-13 million and rising-lack any prescription drug coverage.
"This is our top priority," Kourpias explained. "We've earned the right to a safe and secure retirement. And the Alliance will not pussyfoot around this issue like some aging organizations have."
The time is ripe for a new prescription drug benefit. One obstacle -- Republican control of the Senate -- has disappeared. Democratic leaders know how vocal and vigilant these swing voters can be. So the momentum has shifted.
"We are entering a remarkable new century in which miracle cures are already developed for many serious diseases," said Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-MA, at an Alliance rally on Capitol Hill.
"These discoveries offer senior citizens the prospect of longer, healthier lives and make Medicare coverage of prescription drugs all the more important," Kennedy added.
The Alliance supports legislation sponsored by Senator Paul Wellstone, D-WI, and Congressman Bernie Sanders D-VT.
In contrast to President George W. Bush's plan, which only covers seniors who make less than $15,000 a-year, the Wellstone-Sanders package covers all Medicare beneficiaries and would pay for 80 percent of a senior's drug costs, at a comparable cost.
In the legislative battles ahead, the Alliance will be a powerful player. "Retiring union members automatically will become members of the Alliance. Those mostly blue-collar baby boomers will swell our membership to more than five million in the next five years," Kourpias explained. "The Alliance's grassroots advocacy and political clout can only grow."
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