Report on Medicare Cites Prescription Drug Abuse

Dear Editor:

In your article, “Report on Medicare Cites Prescription Drug Abuse,” you reported that some Medicare beneficiaries are abusing their privilege of Plan D by getting prescriptions on painkillers and narcotics in unnecessary amounts for any person. Officials have been investigating this issue but seem uncertain on what actions to take such as limiting patients to one pharmacy or doctor because they do not want to “jeopardize patients’ access to care.”

This is interesting because Plan D of Medicare is funded through general tax revenues, which is currently a hot topic at the White House. Legislators want to raise taxes to fund programs such as Medicare but they don’t seem to realize that some beneficiaries are unfairly spending their coverage on unnecessary items.

One way to avoid this issue is to limit the number of pharmacists and doctors that beneficiaries can see within a reasonable time frame to ensure that patients won't abuse the system. Patients will be more tightly reined in in terms of access to care, but at least it can prevent the funds from being abused.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Nam