Schwitzer health news blog

Mixed message on Medicare drug coverage

Market choices versus big government-run taxpayer-subsidized programs.

The Medicare drug coverage program is an experiment in trying to do both simultaneously, according to an essay in the Wall Street Journal.

An excerpt: "This market-friendly expansion of Medicare doesn't seem to be paying political dividends or attracting much consumer interest so far. 'This is a test case,' says Jonathan Oberlander, a University of North Carolina political scientist. 'It's a theory in search of population, and they've found the wrong population. A lot of what you're seeing is what happens when you try to turn seniors and people with disabilities into computer-linked consumers. It's insanity.'

Much of the problem may be that the drug benefit reflects political compromises that overlook lessons learned elsewhere about how consumers cope with an overwhelming array of choices."