Human Interest

Getting Medicare costs under control is a full-time job. But some proposed cost-cutting measures could end up doing more harm than good.

Take the legislation introduced in the House and Senate by Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), respectively. Their "Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act" is designed to reduce costs by altering the financing structure of Medicare Part D, the prescription drug benefit for seniors.

Prescription drug pricing has been the subject of much debate over the last year.

Several states are looking at importing drugs from Canada as an answer to high prescription costs. In fact, the Florida legislature recently approved a plan to import drugs from Canada where prices are lower, rather than purchasing them domestically. Importation programs like the ones proposed in Florida are neither safe nor effective ways to lower the price of medications.

Doctors are hard to come by in rural America. Nearly 20 percent of Americans live in rural communities. But only 10 percent of doctors practice there. Patients often must drive for hours to see a physician.

When it comes to having access to quality health care, minorities still lag behind their white counterparts, research shows, and that can include dental and orthodontic problems that get postponed or go untreated.