IS AARP SWITCHING SIDES?

AARP may be wavering in its positionon drug reimportation legislation, basedon an analysis conducted by the nonprofitorganization. The study, "The NewMath: Cheaper Than Canada? The DrugBenefit May Be the Better Deal,"evaluatedthe federal government's Medicaredrug-plan finder.

The group compared costs underMedicare's stand-alone drug plans withpotential savings from reimportation.The findings indicated that individualswho enroll in a low-cost Medicare prescriptiondrug plan could save more thanif they were to purchase the same drugsin Canada. AARP is offering its own drugplan, which already has enrolled inexcess of 2 million beneficiaries.

"Millions of Americans who have neverhad drug coverage can now save moremoney throughMedicare Part D,rather than turningto Canada toget their prescriptions,"said BillNovelli, AARP's chief executive officer.

AARP's about-face could prove problematicfor reimportation legislationpending in Congress. RepresentativeSherrod Brown (D, Ohio) said, "AARP isselling Medicare drug coverage, soit's not surprising that they're pushingtheir own product. Now they're makingan apples-to-oranges comparisonbetween Medicare drug coverage andCanadian drug prices. Seniors deservedecent drug coverage, andevery American deserves lower-priceddrugs."