Legislation Would Revise Asset Test For Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, Enroll More Low-Income Beneficiaries In Drug Plans

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 20 Mar 2007 - 13:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) on Thursday introduced a bill (HR 1536) that seeks to help the estimated 3.27 million low-income beneficiaries who qualify for, but do not receive, federal subsidies under the Medicare prescription drug benefit and expand the eligibility for the subsidies to more beneficiaries, CQ HealthBeat reports. According to Doggett, the legislation would provide CMS with "limited access" to Internal Revenue Service data to identify Medicare beneficiaries eligible for the subsidies and would require multiple, "clearly worded" notices to beneficiaries and other outreach efforts. In addition, the bill would end a practice in which financial assistance provided by adult children to cover the cost of utility bills or groceries are considered income in calculations to determine whether Medicare beneficiaries qualify for the subsidies. The legislation also "would not punish low-income seniors for accumulating modest retirement savings" in calculations to determine whether they qualify for the subsidies, Doggett said. Under the bill, individuals could have assets of as much as $27,500, and couples could have assets of as much as $55,000 to qualify for the subsidies, compared with $11,710 for individuals and $23,410 for couples currently. Doggett said, "These changes will extend coverage to more than half of the low-income individuals and about two-thirds of couples who have previously been denied solely because of their very modest savings."

Prospects
The bill, which the Congressional Budget Office plans to score next month, has 156 House co-sponsors and support from AARP, Consumers Union, the National Council on Aging, Families USA, the National Committee To Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and the Center for Medicare Advocacy. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) said that he would mark up the legislation later this year as part of a broader Medicare bill. A Doggett spokesperson said that Sens. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) might introduce a companion bill in the Senate (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 3/15).

"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.