Firms lobby Medicare to cover Viagra and its ilk
WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (NYT) - Drug companies are strenuously resisting bipartisan efforts in Congress to prohibit Medicare from paying for Viagra and other drugs for erectile dysfunction.
The issue of whether Medicare's new prescription drug benefit should cover such treatments is raising broader questions of ethics, economics, politics and health policy.The debate centers on whether a drug used to enhance sexual performance should even be eligible for Medicare coverage.
Proponents of providing the coverage say that erectile dysfunction often has a physical cause and that treatment can significantly improve the quality of a man's life. Opponents say that Medicare, already growing at an unsustainable rate, cannot afford to pay for "lifestyle drugs."
Administration officials said recently, that, under their reading of the new Medicare drug benefit, they had to pay for drugs like Viagra, Levitra and Cialis when they were prescribed.
This came as a surprise to many members of Congress. Their concern was heightened by new estimates indicating that the overall drug benefit would cost much more than they were told when they voted on the legislation in November 2003.
"The thought of Medicare wasting vital resources on performance-enhancing drugs is unconscionable," said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. "The focus should be on providing coverage for needy seniors."
Under the new law, drug coverage will become available in January 2006 to all 41 million Medicare beneficiaries, regardless of their income or assets.
The drug benefit will be delivered by private insurers, subsidized by the government. Under the law, insurers have to cover "drugs in all therapeutic categories and classes," but not necessarily every drug in every class.
Source: NewYork Times by Robert Pear, Tue, Feb 22, 2005 |
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