The Medicare Prescription Plan is a Small Glimpse Into the Future
by John Riet

Did you ever go to see a really bad horror movie? I mean really bad. The kind of movie that's so predictable you find yourself saying, "I bet when she opens that door, he's going to stab her." And sure enough, the dumb bimbo opens the door and the masked psychotic deformo stabs her through her ample bosom. The political equivalent to such a movie is happening right now in the form of the recently enacted Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.

Those of us who have learned far too well what it means for a nation to adopt a "free" health care system responded to the passage of the Drug Plan with a resounding, "don't go in there!"

I've been keeping up with this for a few years now and I'm familiar with the effects of a socialist health care system forced onto a population: the extended waiting periods, the rising costs, the lack of incentives for and thus, the shortage of health care workers. The list of catastrophes goes on and on. I've watched for years what's been happening in much of Europe, Canada, and communist countries like Cuba.

Great Britain's National Health Service was implemented on July 5, 1948. The first year costs of the program were 52 million pounds higher than the original estimates. Not so coincidentally, the initial costs of our Medicare Prescription Drug Plan was roughly $400 billion. Before it was even put into effect on January 1 of this year, that estimate nearly doubled to $796 billion. And all our plan does is "help out" with the prescriptions of our seniors. It isn't full-fledged health care coverage.

Had you asked me before it took effect what I thought would happen as a result of the new Medicare plan, I would have probably said, "Longer wait for prescriptions to be filled, higher costs, less incentives for new pharmacies to open or remain open, and a shortage of resources." After all, it's been happening for decades in other countries. Why would I think anything would be different here?

Would I have been right?

Testimony is being heard in Washington this week before the Senate Finance Committee regarding the horror stories (no pun intended) of this socialist program. Smaller pharmacists are under financial stress because they are now doing more work and getting paid less - the government, after all, does not pay these pharmacists the fees they would have earned in a free market system. The average cost to fill a prescription is about $7 to $8. Under the new Medicare plan, the pharmacist gets paid only $5. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how long one can stay in business when revenue fails to exceed costs.

Additionally, it can take hours for a pharmacist to verify coverage enrolled in various plans. I know. You're thinking, "no way!" But yes. More bureaucracy actually slows things down. As a result, many seniors and disabled people are having trouble getting their prescriptions filled.

Not surprisingly, these smaller pharmacies, some of which are the closest and most convenient for many seniors, are being shut down due to their inability to compete with the bigger drugstore chains. Remember that this is different from a mom-and-pop store being closed because a Wal-Mart opened up down the street. The demise of small pharmacies is the result of government intervention, not free market forces.

So, let's see… longer wait for prescriptions to be filled, higher costs, less incentives for new pharmacies to open or remain open, and a shortage of resources. Yep. You can pretty much set your watch by it.

Now imagine this Prescription Drug Plan applied to our entire health care system. In spite of the obvious evidence, including our current experience, there are still those who insist that we adopt such a program. Do you want to ask me what I think will happen if we do so? Or can you guess what I might say?