US Medicare Rx drug cover could cost $1,000 billion over 10 years, says CBO

The US Congressional Budget Office has estimated that, given theincreasing costs of medication, Medicare beneficiaries will consume prescription drugs worth a total of $1,500 billion during 2002-2011, according to the Office's director, Dan Crippen.

Therefore, said Mr Crippen in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, President George W Bush's proposed spending of up to $153 billion on a Medicare prescription drug plan over the next 10 years would create a benefit that would have to be "pretty targeted" or, for a universal benefit it would be "pretty thin," and would "not provide a great deal for any one person," he said, according to a Reuters report.

Mr Crippen told the Committee hearing that a prescription drug benefit which covered 50% of enrollees' annual spending would cost approximately $728 billion to 2011, while covering all beneficiaries' costs of more than $1,000 per year would raise this total to around $1,100 billion, which is seven times more than Pres Bush has budgeted for such a provision in the period. If the benefit were to cover costs above $5,000 annually, he estimated that the Medicare bill to 2011 would total about $365 billion.