The recent tragic events brought on by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have dramatically underscored what can happen to our nation’s poor and disabled — the most vulnerable among us — when government protection and health care services disappear. The vivid images of the most helpless people, fending for themselves, are not ones I or any other American will soon forget.

Unfortunately, some government proposals currently under consideration in Washington have the potential to rip the rug out from under this country’s neediest people again.

The U.S. Congress currently is considering $10 billion in cuts in the Medicaid program over five years. The Medicaid program covers the poor and disabled, more than 50 percent of whom are children. Yes, Medicaid spending needs to be contained, but not in a way that will limit access for patients and end up costing more in the long run.

More than half of the proposed Medicaid budget cuts ($5.2 billion) will come from pharmacy, even though pharmacy reimbursement costs equal only 2 percent of Medicaid spending. Furthermore, the reimbursement formulas currently being discussed would mean pharmacists would actually lose money for every Medicaid prescription they dispense. The result would be pharmacies forced to drop out of the Medicaid program, patients losing access to needed medicines, and higher ultimate costs when patients end up in the emergency room or a nursing home.

Community pharmacists are in a unique position to help drive down Medicaid prescription drug costs, while at the same time maintaining the health care safety net on which so many people depend. By encouraging patients to switch to generic drugs, billions of dollars could be saved every year.

The percentage of Medicaid recipients who currently fill their prescriptions with generic drugs varies from state to state, but averages about 52 percent nationwide. A modest 8 percent increase in the use of generic drugs would save the Medicaid program $19 billion over five years — more savings than called for in the president’s budget.

A sensible and fair reimbursement formula for pharmacists — one that would encourage dispensing generic prescriptions — would be a win-win-win solution: a win for patients, a win for Medicaid cost containment, and a win for pharmacists.

Unless modified, the cuts in Medicaid currently being debated in Washington are worse than shortsighted. They are a prescription for disaster.

Robert Pearson

owner

Homestead Pharmacy

Long Branch

District voices concern over ‘plague of careless driving’

Recently, District 16 of the New Jersey State First Aid Council (NJSFAC) initiated a discussion concerning the number of auto accidents caused by the plague of careless driving.

And the list is long — a driver attempts to pass on the right utilizing the shoulder of a two-lane highway. He didn’t make it. Someone who didn’t get up early enough to get to work on time gets upset with the driver in front of him. [He] tries to pass by squeezing into a small opening. Result? A four-car accident, six injuries. A driver wanting to switch lanes uses his directional not realizing the driver next to him will not be aware since a high percentage of cars have front and rear blinkers only. Result? A large amount of damage, but no injuries.

A drowsy sleep-driving Rip Van Winkle moving at 55 mph, was unable to comprehend what was happening when a truck stopped suddenly in front of him. The result? In the first tenth of a second, the front bumper and grill collapse — the second tenth finds the hood crumbling, and striking the windshield, as the spinning rear wheels lift from the ground. Simultaneously, fenders begin wrapping themselves around the solid object. Although the car’s frame has been halted, the rest of the car is still going at 55 mph.

Instinct causes the driver to stiffen his legs and they snap at the knee. During the third tenth of a second, the steering wheel starts to disintegrate and the steering column aims for the driver’s chest. The fourth tenth of a second finds two feet of the car’s front end wrecked while the rear end still moves at 35 mph. The driver’s body is still traveling at 55 mph. In the fifth tenth of a second, the brake pedal breaks off, the car frame buckles in the middle, the windshield smashes into the driver’s head, and the rear wheels — still spinning — fall back to earth. In the seventh tenth of a second, hinges rip loose, doors fly open, and seats break free, striking the driver from behind. The seats striking the driver do not bother him — he is already dead.

These examples constitute only a small number of stupid mistakes. Ever see a two- three- or four-front-to-rear pile-up at a red light? Cause? Following too close or not paying attention. Pure careless driving.

Member of the NJSFAC volunteer EMS squads of District 16 — Deal, Eatontown, Elberon section of Long Branch, Highlands, Little Silver, Monmouth Beach, Oakhurst section of Ocean Township, Oceanport, Red Bank, Sea Bright, Shrewsbury, Tinton Falls North, Tinton Falls South, and West Long Branch — urge all drivers pay attention to the road. The life you save might be your own.

Charles F. Hanisch

public relations/communications

District 16

New Jersey State First Aid Council

Women stand up for civil rights

In my mind, a woman like Rose LaRosa of MTOTSA is a modern-day Rosa Parks.

After a long hard day, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. And after a long hard life, Rose LaRosa refuses to give up her home to rich white men.

We can either stand with women like Rosa Parks and Rose LaRosa at the time they need us, or at their funerals when it is too late.

Barbara J. Gonos

West Long Branch