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B'nai B'rith opposes Congress and AARP on Medicare Prescription Bill
Washington, D.C. (November 25, 2003) – B’nai B’rith International (BBI), the largest Jewish provider of senior housing facilities in the United States, expresses its regret following today’s Senate vote passing the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003.
The bill, which will cause employers to drop coverage and leave millions of Americans with a sub-standard benefit, brings the long national debate about prescription drug assistance for seniors to a disappointing end. Not only are the bill’s protections for low-income elderly insufficient, the cap on general revenue spending distorts the program so severely that it threatens the sacred promise of security that this country made to its seniors.
“Instead of taking this opportunity to address the spiraling cost of prescription drugs and to provide our nation’s elderly with the assistance they deserve, this Congress has found new ways to subsidize the private health insurance industry and threaten the future viability of Medicare,” says B’nai B’rith Director of the Center for Senior Services Dr. Mark D. Olshan.
BBI is especially troubled by the decision of AARP to support the bill, despite broad opposition to many of its provisions among the elderly. “We had hoped that AARP would have used its considerable weight to do a better job for all seniors,” says Olshan.
BBI applauds those members of Congress who fought to prevent passage of a bill that helps few while endangering many. Not only will the bill not fix what is wrong with Medicare, it will actually increase costs for some seniors while failing to offer adequate help to those already forced to forgo medicine to buy food. While many legislators supported the bill based on the logic that it is better than nothing, BBI feels strongly that “better than nothing” is not a standard that befits the American people. Congress and AARP should know better.
B’nai B’rith – with members in 51 countries – is the world’s best-known Jewish human rights, community action and humanitarian organization.
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