Dems Lambast Prescription Drug Benefit

[cal04]

Seniors need another six months to sign up for the Medicare prescription drug benefit, a Democratic congressman who's also a pharmacist said Saturday. Rep. Marion Berry of Arkansas also said the government needs to think long and hard about meaningful Medicare reform.

Berry said people eligible for the prescription benefit are confused by the various offerings, and some are even paying more for medicine now than they were before they joined the program. "We need to extend the sign-up period by six months to give seniors more time to make sense of this benefit, and we need to eliminate the Bush administration's prescription drug tax," Berry said in the Democrats' weekly radio address.

May 15 is the deadline for enrolling in the new Medicare drug benefit plan, which was enacted by Congress in 2003. People who sign up later probably will have to pay higher premiums. Seniors complain they're confused by the myriad of private options offered in the prescription drug program. Many poor people ran into problems when they were switched over from their drug benefits within Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor, to the Medicare drug benefit. And many pharmacists are struggling because they haven't been paid for drugs administered by the program, Berry said.

"I will never forget one conversation I had with a pharmacist from DeWitt, Ark., who had given away $60,000 in free medications in just one week because he knew his customers might die if they did not receive their refill that day. Medicare Part D is the FEMA of health care," Berry said. Medicare could bargain for lower drug prices to save money for the government and for the elderly, he said. "Every American deserves the best health care we can provide. We do not have to accept a failed benefit and we do not have to tolerate a culture of corruption or leaders who are afraid to admit their mistakes. Democrats have the answer, and under a Democratic Congress, we will give seniors the prescription drug benefit they were promised years ago. Together we can do better," Berry said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060325/ap_on_go_co/democrats_medicare_1

[WhiteTara]

1. look for the swift boating of DeWitt

He sounds to logical and reasonable. He might have a real idea...quick get out the ads to condemn him!!!

[MessiahRp]

2. You mean Berry?

eom

[WhiteTara]

3. oops!

It's obviously too early in the morning for my brain...I'm trying to quit coffee.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Democrats: Medicare drug plan confusing seniors

Democrats: Medicare drug plan confusing seniors
Older Americans need more time to figure out myriad of private options

Saturday, March 25, 2006; Posted: 11:33 a.m. EST (16:33 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Older Americans need another six months to sign up for the Medicare prescription drug benefit, a Democratic congressman, who's also a pharmacist, said Saturday.

Rep. Marion Berry of Arkansas also said the government needs to think long and hard about meaningful Medicare law.

Berry said people eligible for the prescription benefit are confused by the various offerings, and some are even paying more for medicine now than they were before they joined the program.

"We need to extend the sign-up period by six months to give seniors more time to make sense of this benefit, and we need to eliminate the Bush administration's prescription drug tax," Berry said in the Democrats' weekly radio address.
(snip/...)

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/25/dems.radio.ap/index.html

[Sal Minella]

5. I just left the medicare.gov website. Found 40 plans in my state,

typed in the plan I want (the cheapest one) and my zip code, as instructed, and was immediately told the plan is not available in my area. No clue or hint as to how to find out what plans ARE available in my area. My state has forty plans. Most of them cost $50 or so a month, which is almost ten percent of my income.

Screw them. Going to all this trouble to enrich Big Pharma is not worth the bother for me.

Edit: Having more TIME isn't going to help. Having cheaper plans would help. Having fewer plans would help. Having plans that cover a whole state would help. Having 40 plans that cover 40 individual areas of the state would help.

Screw them.

Edit Part Deux:: I'm not confused, I'm mad.

[Rainscents]

11. Have you try the AARP RX plan?

You dodn't need to be AARP member to join. I check it out and went with their's.

[Sal Minella]

15. I will definitely check that one out -- I threw away the junk mail on this

that came from AARP because I was so furious when they chose to give Plan Disaster their backing, I swore I'd never have anything to do with AARP again.

[mdmc]

6. schedule d is a confusing mess

[jwirr]

9. It certainly does! I am not ignorant but I did not have the slightest

idea which program to take. There were 42 choices in my area and I had no information on any of them yet I was forced to sign up for one immediately because I am diabetic and have no coverage at all this week. I am running out of pills and will not be able to purchase more until Apr. 1, 2006. While that does not seem a long time it means I go cold turkey when I run out. I hate that sob and his wheeler-dealers in DC. If anything happens to me this week I have instructed my children to sue!!

[Zorra]

7. Like the Stones said in "Sympathy for the Devil" -

"What's confusin' you is the nature of my game".

Everything this corrupt Congress and administration does comes straight from their boss man from hell.

[Sal Minella]

8. We should have known, when negotiating cheaper bulk rates was forbidden

by this stupid law, that it was going to be total and complete disaster, designed solely to enrich the drug companies.

[oneold1-4u]

10. What an ugly monster!

A government that threatens to penalize any who don't buy into their atrocious malfunctioning madness.

[thecrow]

12. Information from a brochure I picked up...

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage is an insurance plan with a monthly premium of about $32 depending on the plan you choose to enroll in.

Basic plans have a $250 deductible that you must pay. Then Medicare will pay 75% of the costs of your prescriptions up to $2,250. Medicare then stops paying for the cost of your prescriptions until you have spent an additional $2,850 out of pocket. Then medicare will pay 95% of the cost of your prescriptions for the rest of the year.

"Helpful Resources"
Call 1-800-633-4227 to talk to a Medicare representative 24/7.
Log onto www.medicare.gov for more information and to compare medicare drug coverage plans.

Note:
IF you don't sign up by May 15, you will have to pay a penalty
if you choose to join a plan later (my note: HOW INSANE IS THAT?)
This penalty is equal to 1% of your plan's monthly premium and can accrue up to 24 months. This means that if you wait to join a plan for 24 months after the initial period, your premium will be 24% higher than someone who joined the same plan during the initial open enrollment period.
If you don't sigh up by May 15, then your next chance to enroll is during the next open enrollment period from November 15-December 31.

It is up to you to decide to continue your prescription drug coverage through your private health insurance or switch to a Medicare plan.
Keep in mind if you switch from your private insurance plan to Medicare Prescription Drug coverage you may not be able to awitch back to your private insurance at a later date.

****************
Good God.
What will happen to me when I retire???
I'll lose my house, job, income, health insurance....mind......
and get Medicare? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Oh, the irony of growing old in Murka today.
Move to Canada, maybe?

edited for typos

[Sal Minella]

14. Plus, I just heard on "Peoples' Pharmacy" (NPR) this morning,

the Big Pharma Boys can raise the prices any time with no notice to anybody, and they can discontinue meds from their "formulary" with only 30 days' notice.

So you go through hours of work finding a plan that fits your meds, and the next day they can all cost twice as much, or their coverage be dropped entirely within a month.

This is such a scam, perpetrated on such a vulnerable population. On "Peoples' Pharmacy" the government clown kept talking about website this and website that -- I'm in my sixties, fairly computer-literate, and had a heckuvva time trying to navigate that website.

[lovuian]

13. Its a freakin mess and only helping the pharmaceuticals

not the seniors!!!