Health News
2005-10-21
Congress cuts
federal funding for impotence drugs
It took a
hurricane to do it, but Congress has finally ended federal
subsidies for users of Viagra and other sexual performance
It took a
hurricane to do it, but Congress has finally ended federal
subsidies for users of Viagra and other sexual performance
drugs. The Senate on Wednesday passed without debate
and sent to the president legislation that ends
Medicare and Medicaid payments for erectile
dysfunction drugs as part of a package that extends medical
help for the poor and provides unemployment benefit
aid to states hit by Hurricane Katrina.
"This legislation
extends very important benefits for people who live on
the edge of poverty," said Senate Finance Committee chairman
Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican. "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."
The measure ends
federal Medicaid payments for erectile dysfunction drugs
as of January 1. Medicare payments for such drugs will be
terminated January 1, 2007.
Studies have
shown that gay men are more likely than their heterosexual
peers to have tried or regularly use erectile dysfunction
drugs like Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra. The
medications also are commonly used in combination with
club drugs crystal methamphetamine and ecstasy, which in
turn lead to higher rates of unprotected sex among gay and
bisexual men and greater risk for HIV infection and
other sexually transmitted diseases, health experts
say.
Rep. Nathan Deal,
a Georgia Republican who sponsored the original House
bill, said the government could save $690 million over five
years by stopping federal subsidies for sexual
performance drugs.
Under Medicaid,
the state-federal program for the poor, states will still
be allowed to subsidize Viagra and other impotence drugs if
they determine such drugs are medically necessary. But
they will no longer receive federal matching grants.
Congress has made
several attempts in recent years to end federal
subsidies for erectile dysfunction drugs, but this is the
first legislation to clear both chambers and be sent
to the president. (AP, with additional reporting by
Advocate.com)
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