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Viagra to be covered by Medicare prescription drug plan; conservative groups are outraged
18 February 2005
Because Viagra is sometimes used to treat enlarged
hearts, federal officials have decided it should be covered under
the Medicare prescription
drug plan set to begin next year. But some conservative groups
are upset. They note, of course, that Viagra is most commonly used
to treat erectile dysfunction, and they are outraged that tax payers
will financing what, at least one of their leaders calls "the
romance of 76 million baby boomers."
Sexual performance drugs such as Viagra will be
covered in Medicare's new prescription drug program, a benefit that
some conservatives and watchdog groups say the government shouldn't
provide.
The voluntary prescription coverage, which President
George W. Bush signed into law two years ago, begins next year on
Jan. 1.
It's expected to cover the drug expenses of 11
million low-income older and disabled people and cost more than
$500 billion over the next decade.
"The law says if it's an FDA-approved drug
and it is medically necessary, it has to be covered," said
Gary Karr, spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,
which administers the health insurance program for older Americans.
Under the program, prescriptions for Viagra and similar drugs in
its class will be controlled, like those for maladies such as high
blood pressure and heart disease.
Pfizer's Viagra, Bayer's Levitra and Eli Lilly
& Co.'s Cialis are used primarily to treat
erectile dysfunction, but they also help treat enlarged hearts
that can result from high blood pressure.
"Asking Uncle Sam to pay for the romance of
76 million baby boomers will quicken the impending collapse of Medicare,"
said Tom Schatz, president of a taxpayer watchdog group, Citizens
Against Government Waste.
Karr said no analysis has been done on the cost
of covering sexual performance drugs.
Others say the law puts Congress, and not doctors,
in the position of deciding which drugs should be covered -- precisely
the kind of big-government role that Republicans and Bush campaigned
against.
"You cannot have a universal entitlement like
this without extreme micromanagement," said Robert Moffit,
a health care analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Indeed, on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, talk turned
to what types of drugs are covered by the new law.
source:-http://www.newstarget.com | 
