Medicare prescription drug program not likely
Rose Kaufman and her husband spend more than $1,200 a year for the four prescription medications they must take daily.
And they are some of Santa Monica’s more fortunate senior citizens.
Covered partially by an HMO, the Kaufmans are spared some of the high costs many senior citizens in Santa Monica pay for their prescription medications.
A recent congressional report compiled by officials in Congressman Henry Waxman’s (D-West Hollywood) office indicates that seniors living on the west-side of Los Angeles pay some of the highest prescription drug costs of any industrialized country in the world.
“There are many seniors living in Santa Monica who have to pay the majority of their fixed income on their prescriptions,” said Kaufman, who must additionally spend another $80 a month on over-the-counter medications a doctor has instructed her to take daily.
Santa Monica is host to seven affordable senior housing complexes, which house hundreds of senior citizens living on fixed incomes.
Many seniors who are forced to spend much of their income on prescriptions then must turn to local food banks and charities for meals and services they would otherwise be able to afford, officials said.
“I have clients who are paying a lot of money for prescriptions that they cannot afford,” said a social service worker at Wise Senior Services, who asked that he not be named. “They are buying them... and then taking less than a full dose just to stretch it out. They are going without food sometimes.”
Joel Greenberg, a member on the city’s commission on older Americans, said high drug costs have degraded the quality of life for many local seniors, who are seen as more wealthy than those in nearby communities.
“Seniors here are not exempted from anything. They are subject to the same prices and the same federal laws,” he said. “Seniors here suffer as much as any other senior across the country from the ridiculous cost of drugs.”
“Seniors here suffer as much as any other senior across the country from the ridiculous cost of drugs.” — — JOEL GREENBERG City’s commission on older Americans
Pharmaceutical companies have argued they are only trying to recoup years of research costs associated with getting approval from the Federal Drug Administration.
But Greenberg believes the companies could find ways to cut some of their costs and make their drugs more affordable.
“I question the millions of doses of these medicines that are sent to every physician in the country free of charge as samples, which is a very high price passed along to all of us to pay,” he said. “The advertising is another great cost that we are all paying for.”
Kaufman said she had to switch medications she takes for her osteoporosis, a degenerative bone disease, because the cost of the medication she had been taking for nearly five years went from $30 a prescription to $130.
Kaufman said she was fortunate her doctor could prescribe a similar medication that did not cost as much.
“People are at the mercy of whomever prescribes or fills their prescription,” she said. “Nobody at our level knows if something is working right until something happens.”
Santa Monica resident Lester Hershon, who was filling a prescription Tuesday at the Central Pharmacy at 327 Wilshire Boulevard, said even with an HMO he is paying too much for his medications.
“Even with my discount, I had to pay $48 for my prescription,” he said. “And for me that’s still a lot of money.”
One of Central Pharmacy’s owners, Sharon Steen, said it’s not the drug stores who are making huge profits off medications. Steen said most pharmacists are fortunate if they make $1 or $2 on each prescription.
“The pharmacies aren’t making money anymore,” she said. “It’s all the pharmacy companies at this point.”
Steen doesn’t place much faith in the Federal government to correct the situation.
“I don’t see how it could ever work,” she said. “Pharmaceutical industry lobbyists are too strong in Washington.”
And Federal legislation including prescription drug coverage in Medicare is not promising. Last month a bill partially written by the HMO industry died in the U.S. Senate for lack of support after clearing the House of Representatives. A new prescription plan will not likely be debated until after the November elections.
Officials in Waxman’s office said the congressman has been working to incorporate a prescription plan into Medicare for years. Waxman has long blamed pharmaceutical companies for the high costs of medications.
“There’s no where else to go. It’s not like there is an alternative out there,” said Lisa Pinto, Waxman’s spokeswoman. “If Medicare doesn’t step up these people are going to be left high and dry and that’s just a shame.”
“If Medicare doesn’t step up these people are going to be left high and dry and that’s just a shame.” — — LISA PINTO Congressman Henry Waxman, spokeswoman
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 14, 2002. Read the original PDF.