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Summary: The rising cost of health care is squeezing millions of seniors across the country who rely on access to good care to preserve their quality of life. Prescription drug costs continue to rise unchecked, thanks to the new Medicare law that did nothing to control them. To make matters worse, millions of retirees are likely to lose their employer benefits as a result of the new law, and last week the Bush Administration announced that Medicare premiums will be increasing by 17%.

Prescription Drugs: The rapidly increasing cost of prescription drugs is squeezing America's seniors. By age 65, average seniors spend more then $700 a year on medications, and the cost of prescription drugs is only going up because the Republican Medicare bill prohibited the government from negotiating lower prices.

A study by Families USA found the prices of the most frequently used medicines for seniors increased by 6.5% from January 2003 to January 2004 - more than four times faster than the rate of inflation. In fact, AARP found that price increases of brand name drugs accelerated between January and March of this year, the months immediately following the enactment of the new Medicare bill.

Medicare premiums: Last week, the Bush Administration announced that Medicare premiums would increase by more than 17% to $78.20 a month -- the largest dollar increase in the history of the program. More than 15% of this increase is a direct result of the Bush Administration's push to privatize Medicare. In addition, deductibles for Medicare Part B services will increase $10 next year, thanks to yet another change made by the Republican Medicare law, and certain Part A deductibles will increase by $36 next year.

Retiree Health Care Coverage: Between 11 million and 12 million retired Americans receive prescription drug insurance coverage through their former employers, but the number of companies offering health benefits to retirees has been declining for at least 15 years, and the situation is only getting worse. A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Hewitt Associates found that 10 percent of those companies that had offered retiree health benefits eliminated those benefits last year, and more than twice as many say they are likely to terminate benefits for future retirees in the next three years. Now, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the Republican prescription drug bill will give employers even more incentive to drop prescription drug coverage for Medicare-eligible retirees, and nearly three million retirees could lose all or part of their health care benefits as a result of the law.

Democrats believe that no senior should have to fall victim to the health care squeeze. That's why Democrats in Congress support a real Medicare prescription drug benefit that permits re-importation, enables the government to negotiate better prices for medicine on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries, safeguards the Medicare trust fund, and protects retiree health care coverage.