The laboratory for her experiment is Massachusetts, where Mrs. Heinz and her husband, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat, have a home. The foundation was created after the death of Mrs. Heinz's former husband, Republican U.S. Sen. John Heinz, with his share of the Heinz ketchup fortune. The late Sen. Heinz fought unsuccessfully in Congress for Medicare reform. Now Mrs. Heinz has taken up his crusade to provide cheaper medicines to poor and middle-class Americans over 65 years old. Her program has been dubbed HOPE, for the Heinz Plan to Overcome Prescription Expenses.
Many states already have programs to help poor people get prescriptions.
So Mrs. Heinz is taking things one step further, hoping to make sure that whatever dollars flow from the federal spigot reach a wide array of people. Instead, she actively courted the companies' support. The only way we're going to solve problems of this magnitude is to marry government and the marketplace. The approach got the program enacted. The plan includes premiums, deductibles and co-payments, all on a sliding scale.