Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, said the cards, intended mainly for people who have no insurance for prescription costs, would cut retail prices by 10 percent to 25 percent. [ed: I'll take the 25% off card, thank you]
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Sponsors can charge an "enrollment fee" of up to $30 for a card. But Timothy Trysla, a Medicare official, said that about one-fourth of the sponsors would not charge fees. [ed: I'll take one of those, please]
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By contrast, many other sponsors have established lists of preferred drugs. Under federal rules, if a company uses such a list, it has to offer discounts on at least one drug in each of 209 categories of medicines commonly needed by Medicare beneficiaries. [ed: huh?]
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Seventeen of the sponsors will be offering their cards nationwide. The other sponsors' cards will be available in specific states or regions. [ed: Are those the good cards? Red states or blue states?]

- posted by Cynthia @ 5:07 PM | | | Link |