Free Drugs FOr Wizened Citizens (Boortz)

Neal Boortz Program Notes ^ | June 13, 2003 | Neal Boortz

[rattrap]

FREE DRUGS FOR WIZENED CITIZENS

Step by step … here is how it’s going to work. Print this and safe it.  You can show it to your children or grandchildren to help explain why the government is taking 60% of everything they earn. 

1. Democrats propose a grand new spending program.  Senior citizens are going to be able to use someone else’s money to buy their prescription drugs.  Senior citizens pledge their electoral support to Democrats as thanks.
2. Republicans start chanting “me too!” and get on board with the free drugs for old folks plan, hoping that at least some of the wrinkled class will vote for them.
3. Senior citizens spend an average of $650 a year on prescription drugs right now.  As soon as the drug benefit is added to Medicare the pharmaceutical companies will start marketing many more drugs to old folks.  “Ask your doctor about Noasital.”
4. Seniors will rush off to their Medicare doctors and say “Tell me about Noasital.”  They’ll insist on a prescription for Noaiital, and any other drug they happen to see advertised, and many doctors will be all too willing to go along.
5. The average yearly spending by seniors on prescription drugs will skyrocket from $650 a year to thousands of dollars a year. 
6. In short order the projections for spending on the new prescription drug benefit will have been left in the dust.  What was sold to us as a $40 billion a year program will be costing well over $100 billion a year .. and going nowhere but up.  Politicians and bureaucrats will start expressing their “concerns” and a fix will be demanded.
7. The “fix” to rising spending on drugs for wrinkled class will be to put limits on what Medicare will pay for certain prescription drugs, just as Medicare has already put limits on what will be paid for certain medical services.
8. Pharmaceutical companies will find that they aren’t making any money on selling these drugs to seniors because of the Medicare price controls.  In fact, they may find that they are actually losing money. To compensate for these lost profits the pharmaceutical companies will simply increase prices for these and other drugs to their non-Medicare patients. 
9. As the prices of prescription drugs for non-Medicare Americans go up, so will the price of health insurance coverage.  Insurance companies aren’t going to suffer these increased costs without passing them off to the insured.  Basically this is the same thing that has happened in many other areas of health care.  Medicare institutes price controls, health care providers make up the difference by charging other patients more, health insurance companies raise premiums … and so on.
10. As prescription prices and health insurance premiums increase for non-Medicare Americans, so will the demand for politicians to step in and do something.  Politicians, always hungry for both votes and power, will be all-too-happy to oblige.
11. Politicians will start demagoguing drug companies.  They will be called “greedy” and will be accused of “profiteering” and “exploiting” the frail health of our precious senior citizens.
12. After a short period of scare-mongering the politicians will vote to institute price controls on the pharmaceutical companies.  Politicians will tell us that they are doing this to reign in these greedy corporate monsters who are becoming obscenely rich on the backs of sick Americans.
13. With price controls the earnings figures for pharmaceutical companies will go into the toilet. 
14. As earnings go down pharmaceutical companies will have less and less to spend on research and development for new drugs.  Research into ways to treat disease will show down and, eventually, will become the province of government.
15. Government will be the eventual beneficiary of this mess as the masses clamor for more and more government solutions to these problems that are perceived to be the fault of the private sector.

[rattrap]

This is probably exactly what will happen. This will be as bad as hitlery's health care programs. but all the RINOs (which to me is pretty much every republican in govt) won't even try to stop this.

[nonliberal]

I got a letter printed in my local fish wrapper that said essentially the same thing. It is our supposedly Republican Seantor (Charles Grassley) who is proposing the damn thing!

[Mr. K]

GOOD POST - PRINT THIS AND COPY IT EVERYWHERE!!!!

[usmom]

I can't believe all the RINOs supporting this bloated welfare program. People should be ashamed of themselves for going begging to the government for all their needs (or wants as is usually the case). My husband and I are both pharmacists, and I can tell you, this will be one of the biggest disasters this country has ever seen. It is common to see seniors on 15-20 medicatiions. The doctors keep prescribing and they keep taking. They don't even try to get off of old stuff- just keep piling it on. As long as someone else is footing the bill, they will take it. It is obscene. They want to charge us $600 dollars a month for health insurance, take half our salary in taxes, yet give old farts free drugs. Pretty soon we will have a lot of very healthy 90-year-olds, but all the younger people who work to support them will be struggling and going without health insurance. Let's see how far this country gets under those circumstances. It disgusts me to see what this country is coming to. It will soon be socialist nightmare (as if it istn't already).

[OREALLY]

Interesting view point !

[genefromjersey]

Gee, I guess I should feel guilty about taking blood pressure medicine that helps keep me alive without being hospitalized; and my wife should repent of doing likewise.

Most of the cost is paid by a non-government prescription plan, which requires us to make a $10 co-payment, and both of us worked our butts off from the time we were teen-agers so we could afford all those lovely co-payments.

Have patience, ma'am : You'll be one of those accursed greedy seniors yourself one day ; but I guess YOUR children and grandchildren won't have to worry about that, since you will do your citizenly duty and self-destruct.

[KantianBurke]

There are many Bushbots on this site who are in love with such an idea. It seems that a passionate desire of Socialism and an unquestioning adoration of Bush go hand in hand.

[rattrap]

Most of the cost is paid by a non-government prescription plan

looks like you're not somebody she, or the original post, was talking about.

now if you think the government should pay your $10 co-payment, then you're part of the problem. otherwise i don't get your post.

[Wolfie]

This train only goes to one destination - Universal Healthcare.

[OREALLY]

It looks like the future American may have a mandatory euthanasia plan for our elderly ! Pretty scary and unchristian.

[rattrap]

Bush has spends money faster than klowntoon and his evil wife, he pushes for welfare "tax cuts" (cough...) for people who don't pay taxes, he supports socialist health care programs like this.

I can't in good consience vote for him in 2004, i'll vote libertarian or skip the presidential ballot.

[rattrap]

Maybe we should just enact a plan where when you reach a certain age you're no longer responsible for yourself.

oh wait...

[rattrap]

all aboard....

[realpatriot71]

You think you're entitled to pharmaceuticals?

[realpatriot71]

This train only goes to one destination - Universal Healthcare.

It's the backdoor approach . . .

[rattrap]

boortz is on this right now live, 11:31 am EDT

[OREALLY]

Being responsible for yourself.......
You have a point.....I think people with children should be responsible for supporting their children and not be a burden on tax payers without children !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let the people with children foot the bill by themseles !
I am being sarcastic....but making a point just maybe someone will grasp it!
I have never been so upset by any other issue as this one.
Elderly tax payers are paying for our childrens education
and they paid for your education and freedoms long before you ever paid taxes.
Understand your heartless lack of compassion will fall back on your own heads someday...

[genefromjersey]

Guess you missed the part where I said we WORKED for them-
just as we worked for our other retirement benefits, and the house we live in, etc., etc.

[Fiddlstix]

[Fraulein]

ping!