Medicare Rx benefit in Supreme Court ruling

The US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the federal government in a case brought by five of the States, concerning the funding of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit program. At the heart of the dispute is the transfer of responsibility from the individual States to Washington DC for elderly prescription drug coverage. As a result, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) successfully claimed some of the revenues that the States had previously raised to finance their own prescription benefit schemes. The Supreme Court also informed lawyers representing the States of Texas, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri and New Jersey that their dispute should be heard in a lower court.

87% not affected by "Donut Hole"

10 other States claim that the CMS levy violates their independence: Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Vermont. In related news, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt confirmed that 38.2 million people - or 90% of the potential population - are receiving prescription drug coverage via the Medicare Part D or equivalent programs. DHHS figures also reveal that approximately 87% of beneficiaries have enrolled for more than standard coverage, which means that they are not threatened by the notorious "Donut Hole" (Marketletters passim), the gap between $2,250 and $5,100 of annual drug expenditure. The news is expected to go some way to neutralizing the coverage gap issue in an election year.