Erectile dysfunction drugs won't be covered

The new law's supporters say Medicare and Medicaid should not pay for "lifestyle" drugs, but doctors argue the same drugs treat a real health problem.

By David Glendinning, AMNews staff. Nov. 21, 2005.

Washington -- Physicians who prescribe drugs such as Viagra, Levitra and Cialis to their elderly and disabled patients may want to tell them that the federal government soon will stop footing any part of the bill.

Medicaid, in some states, covers erectile dysfunction drugs for patients with impotence, and Medicare will begin paying for the meds when the prescription drug benefit launches next year. But under a bill that President Bush signed into law last month, Medicaid beneficiaries will stop receiving federal help in buying the pills starting in January 2006, and Medicare coverage will end one year later.

The new law means that by the beginning of 2007, no federal Medicaid or Medicare dollars can go toward paying for medication to treat any sexual dysfunction. Sponsors of the legislation estimate that the government will save nearly $700 million over five years by cutting off what bill supporters call government subsidization of seniors' recreational sex.

The move was designed to help pay for expansions of health and unemployment benefits that lawmakers included in the final legislative package for the benefit of low-income people and Hurricane Katrina survivors, said Senate Finance Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R, Iowa).

"This legislation extends very important benefits for people who live on the edge of poverty," he said. "And the provision included to offset the cost of these programs recognizes that taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for certain lifestyle prescription drugs through Medicare and Medicaid."