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January 19, 2001
ROCKEFELLER SECURES 3-YEAR DEAL TO SAVE RETIRED MINERS HEALTH CARE BENEFITS
WASHINGTON —U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) announced today that President Clinton and Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala, have agreed to a three year Medicare demonstration project that will prevent devastating cuts in retired miners' health care benefits that were expected this year. Additionally, the demonstration project will help Administration officials to better understand how adding an outpatient prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program can actually lower costs and increase efficiency in the traditional Medicare program.
Under this demonstration project, Medicare will pay the retired miner's health fund -- known as the United Mine Workers of America's Combined Benefit Fund -- approximately an additional $140 million over three years beginning July 1, 2001. The funding will be used to pay for an outpatient prescription drug program for the 17,000 retired miners and widows living in West Virginia and the more than 40,000 retirees across America. Today's announcement marks a significant expansion of the existing Medicare Part A and B demonstration project that the Combined Fund already has with Medicare.
"This is the best news in years for retired miners. Not only does it protect retired miners and widows who were in danger of losing their health benefits this year, but it will showcase the economic benefits of providing an outpatient prescription drug benefit under Medicare," Rockefeller said. "I am confident that this demo will show that traditional Medicare benefits can be even more efficiently and economically provided by adding prescription drug coverage."
Most health care analysts agree that by adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, beneficiaries will receive the preventative care needed to actually reduce Medicare costs associated with acute long-term health care services. This demonstration will give policy makers the data and evidence they need to understand the cost savings.
Recognizing that retired miners and widows who are covered by the Coal Act are a unique population of Medicare beneficiaries, Senator Rockefeller began lobbying the Administration more than a year ago to use miners as the demonstration group. Rockefeller pointed out that miners and their Combined Benefit Fund could provide extremely useful data on one of the most important health policy issues under consideration by Congress. Rockefeller also argued that the Fund has a proven track record of administering a pharmacy benefit that has already saved Medicare significant dollars. This demonstration project will provide specific details on how a Medicare outpatient prescription drug benefit would work for all seniors. We are expected to better understand :
- How an outpatient Medicare prescription drug will contribute to a more effective use and economic provision of both Medicare Part A (hospital services) and B (physician services) programs money
- The effect of alternative managed care strategies for frail and chronically ill elderly in non-urban settings
- The role of disease management programs for seniors
While the demonstration project is beneficial to the future of the Medicare program, the project is critical to the nearly 60,000 coal retirees across America who have been in jeopardy of losing their health benefits due to a series of negative court decisions and the skyrocketing price of prescription drugs.
Rockefeller added, "This is not a permanent solution for retired miners, but it certainly guarantees their benefits for another three years. Retired coal miners earned their health benefits through back breaking labor under the harshest of conditions and they deserve the health security they were promised."
Making this demonstration project a reality required tremendous cooperation among the Office of the President and Vice President, the trustees of the Combined Benefit Fund (CBF), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Rockefeller concluded, "I have always been there for retired coal miners and their families, and I always will be. I am pleased that the President and Vice President have agreed to use their considerable administrative power not only to save miners' health benefits but also to help us learn about the likely benefits of providing a Medicare prescription drug benefit for all seniors."
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