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As lawmakers bicker over what to do about the high cost of medicine for seniors, many find their golden years tarnished by worry.
By JEANNE MALMGREN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 27, 2002
ZEPHYRHILLS -- They sit around an oval table under a ceiling fan, silver heads bent over their needlework.
This is the Swedish weaving group at CARES Zephyrhills Senior Center. Every Tuesday at 1 p.m., they bring their tote bags full of yarn. Bifocals perch on noses. Arthritic hands guide needles in and out of large fabric squares: future afghans, sofa throws, baby blankets.
The youngsters in the group are 60-something. Everyone else is in her 70s or 80s. They're former nurses, administrators, factory workers, homemakers. Folks who worked for decades, contributed their fair share, looked forward to a worry-free retirement.
"Yeah, we're in our "golden years,' " says one woman, drawing quotation marks in the air. The others laugh, looking up from their handwork.
Nearly everyone at the table takes at least one prescription drug. Blood pressure pills, diabetes medication, antidepressants, sleep aids, cholesterol-lowering drugs. Modern salves for old age.
Ask the weavers about the cost of their drugs, and opinions flash as fast as the needles.
"A lot of us are on multiple prescriptions, and they aren't any of them cheap."
"Who's supposed to regulate the prices on these drugs?"
"It just keeps going up and up. Probably to pay for all those ads on TV."
"I've heard of seniors eating dog and cat food, just so they can afford their scrips."
They shake their heads, disgusted. How did things get to this point? And why doesn't the government do something about it?
In fact, lawmakers have been trying for several years to enact legislation that would help seniors pay for prescriptions. Forty-million Americans, most of them elderly, rely on Medicare for health care coverage. But Medicare doesn't pay for prescription drugs, yet seniors account for more than 40 percent of all drug spending, according to AARP.
It's terrible, legislators admit, that an estimated 11-million older people are forced to pay full price for expensive medicines they must take continually.
Before its August recess, Congress failed to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. Just as before, the debate turned into a partisan argument. Sen. Bob Graham's compromise bill was rejected. The issue is expected to dominate this fall's elections.
Jeanette Austin volunteers in the office at the senior center in Zephyrhills. Her husband, Charles, has Alzheimer's. He is on several medications: Aricept, for memory; Celexa, to regulate his moods; Proscar, a prostate medication.
"A good chunk of our money every month goes to that," Austin says, as colorful geometric patterns begin to sprout on the women's projects.
Luckily, the Austins have private insurance coverage for prescription drugs, courtesy of their retirement plans. "But it allows up to $1,200 a year," she says. "And by June we've used up that $1,200."
"I'm on a blood pressure pill that's about $38 a month," says Marilyn Gidney, from across the table. Gidney is diabetic. Part of the problem, she says, is that pharmaceutical companies try to block the release of generic drugs that would break their monopolies.
"A year ago, I was on an insulin pen. It costs $137 for five little vials that would last me five weeks." After the new device's patent expired, Gidney could get it over the counter.
"Without a prescription, the very same thing cost me $84. Now, don't tell me somebody wasn't making a nice profit there."
Edythe McCorkel stops ripping out stitches and flexes her arthritic right hand.
"What about that Celebrex?" she asks.
"I asked my nurse-practitioner about that," Gidney says. "She said it's going to cost me $200 a month. I said, "I'll stick with the Advil.' "
The conversation turns to Prilosec, a popular drug for people who suffer acid reflux.
"Now that's a very high-priced drug," Austin says. "And when the patent expired, that's when they came out with Nexium. Which is even more expensive."
Just after rejecting Sen. Graham's compromise bill, the Senate tried to come up with stop-gap measures to ease the financial burden of prescription drugs. It voted to limit the number of lawsuits drug manufacturers can file to extend their patents on new medications.
The Senate also passed a measure allowing cheaper drugs to be imported from Canada. Many elderly Americans already were crossing the border to have their prescriptions filled because drug prices in Canada are controlled by the government and tend to cost half of what they cost in the United States.
Seniors find other inventive ways to get the medications they need.
"I ask my doctor for samples," McCorkel says.
"Or, if it's a new prescription and you're not sure how you're going to react to it, you can ask him to give you a scrip for only 10 pills," Gidney says.
"Oh, that's a good idea!" McCorkel says.
The women speculate about the pharmaceutical lobby, and how much it had to do with derailing this latest attempt at a Medicare prescription drug bill.
"Get rid of the kickbacks, and medicine would be affordable," says Lois Hemphill, jabbing her needle into a cream-colored length of fabric.
"I read a definition of politics," says Bettie Byrd, looking up from a row of perfect stitches. "Poly means many, and ticks are blood-sucking insects."
Laughter rings around the table.
"They do need to pass a prescription program," Austin says. "But they also need to put a ceiling on drug prices."
McCorkel starts to pack up her work. The session is ending.
"In this election year, why don't they listen to the voice of the people?" she says. "I remember when Medicare was $33 (the monthly premium) and they said it would never go up. They need to keep their promises to us."
The needleworkers are ready to go home. On Thursday they'll be back for tatting class.
And prescription drugs will still cost too much.