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We are leading the fight for a real Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit that gives every senior and person with disabilities access every drug, at the best possible price. We need a plan with price controls to rein in the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs, so all seniors and people with disabilities can afford the medicine they need.
Fighting for Affordable Prescription Drug Prices
Fall 2004—In late August, 250 Iowans packed a town hall meeting sponsored by USAEF partner Iowa Citizen Action Network Education Foundation to voice their concerns about the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs.
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| Governor Tom Vilsack tells forum participants that seniors should not have to choose between Rx drugs and food. |
Participants told Governor Vilsack and staff members of Senator Grassley, Senator Harkin, and Representative Boswell that the time has come for pharmaceutical manufacturers to radically cut their prices.
They urged their leaders to adopt policies that would force Medicare to directly negotiate with drug companies for better prices—something insurance companies, the Veteran’s Administration and nations like Canada already do.
"Drug companies are not going to lower their prices unless we make them," said Betty Ahrens, co-executive director of Iowa Citizen Action Network Education Foundation.
"The prices keep going up and up, but my fixed income doesn't," said Janet Barnard, a Medicare beneficiary who attended the forum.
Iowa Citizen Action Network Education Foundation is part of USAEF’s Medicare Education Project (MEP), which educates seniors and people with disabilities in Arizona, Iowa, Florida, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania about the new Medicare prescription drug law.
Medicare Education Project
Since May 2004, MEP organizers and volunteers have completed over 110 presentations in five states, and are having a real impact on the public’s health care debate.
ICANEF trained six seniors and delivered over 40 presentations about the Medicare prescription drug law. "Seniors are a big percentage of Florida's population—and they vote," said Becky Martin, an organizer with Florida Consumer Action Network Foundation. "They know firsthand that people can’t afford health care—they can't afford their prescriptions, and the new Medicare law does very little to help them."
USAction Education Fund's Medicare Education Project is a public education and community empowerment program to help people understand the Medicare and Prescription Drug Modernization Act of 2003 and its impact on seniors and people with disabilities. Since July 2004, we have conducted education and outreach efforts in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Iowa and Pennsylvania.
The Medicare Education Project enables senior citizens and people with disabilities in these five states to assess how the new Medicare law will affect them and their states' health programs. We are creating awareness, stimulating discussion and organizing our communities to speak out to their elected representatives to demand lower drug prices and a prescription benefit under Medicare for all seniors and people with disabilities.
Our efforts include: outreach to seniors and people with disabilities at senior centers, assisted living centers, service agencies and other appropriate locations; education forums in each state led by Medicare beneficiaries; press conferences, news releases and broadcast interviews; and the dissemination of educational materials including Families USA's calculator that allows users to measure their benefit under the new law.
View a list of national MEP sponsors
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