Friday Alert  4/21/06
Alliance for Retired Americans
888 16th Street, N.W. -  Washington DC, 20006 - (202) 974-8222 - www.retiredamericans.or

Nevada on Course to Allow Reimportation of Prescription Drugs from Canada
The Nevada State Board of Pharmacy voted unanimously on Thursday to adopt regulations allowing Nevadans to import safe, affordable prescription drugs from licensed Canadian pharmacies.  The next step is for the Legislative Committee to Review Regulations to consider the plan on May 4.  With its vote, the board rejected as unbelievable efforts by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to convince its members that the drugs may not be safe.  "The Alliance would like to thank Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley for her hard work in making Nevada an example for other states to follow.  She is successfully leading the struggle to make the reimportation of safe and affordable prescription drugs from Canada a reality for all of Nevada's seniors," said George J. Kourpias, president of the Alliance. 

Senators Call for Vote to Extend Part D Enrollment
Forty-eight senators on Wednesday sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) asking him to address legislation that would extend the current May 15 deadline for enrollment in the Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to the Boston Globe and Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report.  Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) wrote the letter urging Sen. Frist to bring to a vote one of the recently introduced bills extending the deadline.  Sen. Nelson has introduced one bill (S. 1841) that would extend the enrollment deadline and is co-sponsoring similar legislation (S. 2168) together with Sen. Snowe.  The St. Petersburg Times reports that Nelson and Snowe wrote, "By extending the enrollment deadline and delaying late enrollment penalties, we can make sure that our constituents are not forced to make hasty decisions about their health care."  Added Edward Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance, "Given all of the problems with Medicare Part D, it's only fair to give seniors more time to make their decisions."

Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the approval of allowing some low-income Medicare beneficiaries extra time to enroll in the Part D program.  According to the Wall Street Journal, CMS estimates that approximately 8.2 million Medicare beneficiaries qualify for a subsidy available to individual beneficiaries with annual incomes of less than about $15,000 and assets of less than $11,500.  However, only 20% of those eligible have applied and qualified for the subsidy.  Low-income seniors and disabled Americans who could qualify for extra financial help have been among the most difficult beneficiaries to enroll.  Seniors who have few health problems and take few expensive drugs also have been slow to enroll, reported USA Today, as actuaries assumed from the start would be the case.

Drug Industry Works to Impede Marketing of Generic Drugs
The brand-name drug industry is fighting in Congress, state legislatures, and courtrooms across the country to make the process of bringing generic drugs to market more difficult.  As a result, discount drug makers may not be able to sell many drugs commonly used by seniors in cheaper generic versions as soon as the drugs' brand name patents expire, the organization that represents pharmacy benefit managers warned this week.  "There's an agenda to prevent generics from getting to the market as soon as they could," said Mark Merritt, president of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association in The Washington Post.  With several top-selling drugs scheduled to go off patent within five years, the organization reported, "branded drug companies are creating roadblocks to possible savings of $23 billion to seniors and the Medicare system."  Together, the cholesterol drugs Zocor and Pravachol, the antidepressant Zoloft and the prostate medication Proscar would save Medicare $13 billion if generic competitors come on the market as scheduled.  After discovery of a new drug, drug makers currently have the legal right for 20 years to sell it exclusively.  Slightly more than 53 percent of all U.S. prescriptions are filled with generics.  "There is no need to give brand-name drug makers more than twenty years of exclusive rights," said Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance.  "Twenty is more than enough."

State Chapter Events
Alliance members in Vermont will be putting together a series of educational Medicare Part D town hall events on Saturday, April 22 in Burlington, Rutland, and Bennington.  New York's retirees will hold their grassroots-lobbying Senior Citizens Day in Albany on Monday, April 24, and Indiana hosts their state convention in Indianapolis on Friday, May 5.  Earlier this week, the Indiana Alliance also celebrated Dingus Day - the Monday after Easter, widely celebrated in Polish communities - with an event distributing the Alliance Voting Record.

Another Chance to Voice Your Opinion on Health Care
The Citizens Health Care Working Group (CHCWG), a federally appointed commission collecting the input of ordinary Americans on ways to improve the American health care system, has extended their deadline for receiving responses.  The group has announced that it will continue to collect input through their website and community meetings until May 15.  Retirees can participate by attending a community meeting that is already scheduled and hosted by the CHCWG, by hosting one in their own community, or by submitting their views through an online survey at www.citizenshealthcare.org.  The meetings are town-hall style events, with participants speaking from tables of ten and voting on issues with handheld tabulation devices.  In the coming weeks, the group will hold meetings in several more cities, including Cincinnati; New York; Deltona, Florida; and Little Rock, Arkansas.  A complete list of upcoming town hall meetings is also available at the web site.

Did You Know?...
Drops in the death rate for heart disease, cancer, and stroke accounted for a stunning decrease in the number of U.S. deaths in 2004, according to preliminary data.  USA Today reports that approximately 50,000 fewer deaths occurred in 2004 compared to 2003.  That is the largest decline of that size since 1944.

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