Prescription Drugs

Many senior citizens face increasing difficulties in paying for their prescription drugs. Congressman Westmoreland strongly support efforts, such as those included in the legislation, to encourage private entities to provide assistance to seniors who cannot afford the rapidly-increasing costs. The Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) provided drug discount cards, and encouraged the drug companies to work with seniors to provide discounted costs.

Congressman Westmoreland is extremely concerned about the high cost of the prescription drug program included as part of the MMA, and went into effect at the beginning of 2006. The new program provides coverage for most drug purchases made by senior citizens, but has an extremely small co-pay. Nearly all of the funding, which is more than twice the state of Georgia's annual budget each year, comes out of the general fund for the federal government.

Many seniors have had difficulty dealing with the new programs and the multitude of options presented. The Congressman supported efforts to delay implementation of the program until all parties involved were more prepared, and continues to support efforts to deal with the problems the program continues to generate for seniors.