Medicare Part D

From 2007 to 2008, the average premium for Medicare Part D prescription drug plans rose by 24.5 percent from 2007 to 2008. This rise will result in an average premium price of $293 per year, or $57.70 more than last year.

A new issue brief from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, “Changes in the Costs of Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, 2007-2008 ”, examines prescription drug plan costs nationally and on a state-by-state basis and finds a surprisingly large increase in average cost going into 2008. Even though this increase is somewhat lower than originally projected, costs will exceed projections as early as 2010 if this trend continues. The brief looks at each of the 50 states and analyzes the number of plans offered in 2008, the number plans of offering coverage ‘in the gap’ between initial coverage and the catastrophic level, the number of plans dropping ‘in the gap’ coverage, and the average dollar and percentage increase in premium cost.

Global Warming

Climate Change and Violent Conflict:


The impact of climate change will make the poorest communities across the world poorer. Many of them are already affected by conflict and instability and thus face a dual risk. International Alert’s new research, A Climate of Conflict: The Links Between Climate Change, Peace and War and The Double-Headed Risk (world map of “countries at risk), finds that the consequences of climate change will fuel violent conflict, which itself hinders the ability of governments and local communities to adapt to the pressures of climate change

Source: Internation Alert

Global Warning

The Center for American Progress (CA) today issued "Global Warning - The Security Challenges of Climate Change", a chapter in a new report entitled “The Age of Consequences.” During the course of the past year, a high-level working group of foreign policy experts, climate scientists, historians, and other specialists has met regularly to investigate the national security and foreign policy implications of climate change. Many of the key findings of this task force, which was directed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for a New American Security, are presented in the new report.

“The Age of Consequences” is organized around three possible climate change scenarios that were developed by Pew Center Senior Climate Scientist Dr. Jay Gulledge, in consultation with other leading experts in the field. CAP’s chapter, “Global Warning - The Security Challenges of Climate Change,” analyzes the foreign policy and national security implications of the most moderate of these scenarios over a 30-year timeframe.

Foreign Drug Manufacturers

New GAO Report: 1 November 2007:


Preliminary findings suggest weaknesses in the FDA’s program for inspecting foreign drug manufacturers . This report, which includes testimony before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, discusses preliminary information on (1) the extent to which the FDA has accurate data to manage the foreign drug inspection program, (2) the frequency of foreign inspections and factors influencing the selection of establishments to inspect, and (3) issues unique to conducting foreign inspections.


Source: Government Accountability Office