Anti-business activists are using corporate scandals as an excuse to blame big business for social problems. They ignore the fact that government itself is the biggest of big business, and the amount of fraud going on in Medicare and Medicaid is no less shocking than what we hear about Enron and Martha Stewart.
Corporate failure should not be an indictment of all big business any more than Medicare and Medicaid should be an indictment of all government agencies. But big business can do what no giant taxpayer-funded bureaucracy and do: move fast.
Last year, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. unveiled a prescription drug discount card that allows low-income seniors to buy all Pfizer drugs for $15 for a 30-day supply. The Pfizer plan went into effect March 1st.
The plan’s eligibility requirements are so simple they must be confusing legislators: You must be on Medicare; you qualify if you are single and earn less than $18,000 a year, or $24,000 for couples; and you do not have other drug insurance.
There’s no membership fee and no monthly fee; you pay only for the prescriptions you use. Really, it’s that simple.
IT’S YOUR HEALTH is written by Conrad Meier, senior fellow in health policy at The Heartland Institute. This program is produced as a public service by Radio America. Meier passed away unexpectedly on March 18, 2005.
