The Medicare Drug Benefit Rollout . . .
Limited-Income Beneficiaries Are Trading Up
You may get less in food stamps and other benefits, but you’ll still come out ahead in Medicare’s drug plan.

By Patricia Barry
August/September 2005

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Most Medicare beneficiaries on limited incomes will be better off after drug coverage begins next year—even if it causes them to receive less in other kinds of assistance, according to government officials and consumer groups. But fears remain that some people may still fall through the cracks.

The question arises because the drug benefit—at least the part of it that gives substantial extra help to those in greatest financial need—interacts in complex ways with other federal and state assistance programs that help millions of the same people.

These are programs that take medical expenses into account when calculating benefits. If people pay less for drugs, their benefits drop. So those currently without drug coverage will see their food stamps reduced and pay a greater share of their subsidized rent as soon as they get drugs under Medicare. But those effects will be more than offset by the value of the drug benefit, Medicare officials say.

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