It’s a grim choice made possible by the horrendous law adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare.

Remember the speeches: Seniors shouldn’t have to choose between their medicine and food. It sounded so good. But, just like the price tag the Bush administration used to sell the plan, it was a load of bull.

In January, Medicare will begin to cover some of the costs of prescription drugs for many older Americans. Low-income retirees, however, could see a corresponding drop in their food stamps.

“Medicare beneficiaries will get comprehensive help with their drug costs and will have significantly more resources for all their other basic necessities, including food,” Mark McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told The New York Times.

That’s some benefit. Food assistance will be replaced by drug assistance.

Here’s the score so far: The administration misled Congress about the cost of the program, passed the law by breaking House rules – and probably the law – protected the profits of drug companies by not allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices and will make up for it by cutting low-income retirees’ food stamps.

Some seniors will likely get more help than they do now. The drug savings will be larger than the amount of lost food stamps. But it still sets up a terrible trade-off.

In the end, the drug benefit promised a lot more than it was ever intended to deliver. Like old fish, the stink of the drug law gets worse every day.