For the past few months, Congressional leaders have been battling on Capitol Hill to pass an unprecedented and historic drug relief reform bill. It has been known for some time now that older Americans are spending a significant portion of their disposable income on prescription drugs, and the President and Congress have finally decided to do something about it. In a recent article in The Washington Post, one woman said that she spends $5,000 a year on medications to manage her high blood cholesterol, diabetes, and high blood pressure. This amount is only the portion that she pays; Medicare picks up the rest of the tab. Under the proposed Senate version of the bill, the government would subsidize up to $4,500 of the annual prescription costs and the consumer would be left with a maximum out-of-pocket expense of up to $5,800. That amounts to more than $10,000 a year.

When you read and understand the exercise and dietary literature, you quickly realize that the billions of dollars we are spending on thousands of different medications to treat a variety of modern-day chronic illnesses can be drastically reduced by getting a little more exercise and consuming a little less of the wrong types of foods.

Read the entire column at http://www.ncpad.org/193/1372/2003-07~Issue~~President~s~Proposed~Drug~Relief~Plan~Must
~Include~Relief~from~America~s~Worst~Ailment~~Physical~
Inactivity