Harvard Medical School

Medicare elimination of essential drugs will affect the elderly

Published in Hospital Business Week, November 6th, 2005

On Jan. 1, 2006, several categories of medications will be explicitly excluded from Medicare's new prescription drug benefit, including benzodiazepines, which are listed as an "essential medication" with the World Health Organization.

Stephen Soumerai, professor of ambulatory care and prevention in the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention (of Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care) published a paper that details the impact this removal will have on society.

Currently, 24% of the elderly on Medicare, or 1.7 million people, will lose this coverage completely. The paper reports that negative effects are likely to take place,...

Want to see the full article?

Purchase this article for only $3.00

We're a pay-per-view site for premium content. If you'd like to purchase this article, it's only $3.00.

Welcome to NewsRx!

Learn more about a six-week, no-risk free trial of Hospital Business Week

Source: Hospital Business Week (2005-11-06)

NewsRx is Social

Top Medical Newsletters

Awards

Best Health/Healthcare Content, 2012
Best Health/Healthcare Content, 2011
Best e-Business Site, 2010
Best e-Business Site, 2009
Best e-Business Site, 2008
Best e-Business Site, 2007
Best e-Business Site, 2006
Best Healthcare Content, 2005
Best Overall Internet Site, 2005
Best Interactive Site, 2005

Facts & Stats

NewsRx also is available at LexisNexis, Gale, ProQuest, Factiva, Dialog, Thomson Reuters, NewsEdge, and Dow Jones.

Google 2010 PageRank: #2 Among Top Health News and Media Publications
Google 2010 PageRank: #2 Among Top Science Publications in Biology/Physiology
Google 2010 PageRank: #2 Among Top News and Media for the Business of Pharmaceuticals
Amazon's Alexa 2010 PageRank: #2 News and Media Site for the Pharmaceutical Industry