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Firms May Cut Retiree Coverage If A Medicare Drug Benefit OK'd; Seniors' Anger Feared.(A)
Byline: SEAN HIGGINS
Congress is hammering out a final prescription drug benefit program for seniors. But that may spur employers to drop their own coverage to current and future retirees, possibly boosting their drug costs.
Many lawmakers still remember the debacle of the late 1980s, when a catastrophic health care act prompted a furious backlash from seniors, in part because it affected their private health coverage.
The House and Senate bills have subsidies to entice employers to keep current benefits. But some loss may be inevitable. And that could lead to a backlash.
"Yes, there is some danger of a falloff of employer health benefits," said one Senate aide involved in the process.
"It was and continues to be a major, major concern," said another.
Some Democrats, like Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., have already attacked the bills on those grounds. That has fans like Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, co-sponsor of the Senate version, on the defensive. He recently said any private coverage loss would be "minimal."
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