WP: Millions of Seniors Facing Medicare 'Doughnut Hole'

[DeepModem Mom]

Millions of Seniors Facing Medicare 'Doughnut Hole'
By Christopher Lee and Susan Levine
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, September 25, 2006; Page A03

Millions of older Americans are confronting a temporary break in their Medicare drug coverage this month that will require them to pay the full cost of their prescriptions or face the painful prospect of going without.

This is the "doughnut hole" in the new Medicare drug benefit that began in January, and advocates for seniors say there is nothing sweet about it. Some seniors knew nothing of the coverage gap until they were hit with a bigger drug bill, advocates say.

"Virtually everyone who calls to say they've been denied coverage, they're shocked," said Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center, a nonprofit that helps seniors navigate Medicare. "Trying to explain that this is the way the program was created by Congress angers folks who think it makes no sense. Many people feel blindsided."

The coverage gap was one of the most contentious elements of the 2003 legislation that created the new benefit. It ends federal payments for a person's drug purchases once an annual spending limit is reached, resuming them only after the beneficiary has spent thousands of dollars out of pocket.

Proponents saw the unusual setup as a way to provide some help to all beneficiaries, and substantial help to those with catastrophic drug costs, and yet not break the bank in a federal program that is expected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/24/AR2006092400957.html

[Erika]

1. W's America - Hit the Needy

While helping the most wealthy. Someone has to pay for their third and fourth homes and yachts. Why not the sick elderly?

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Suckers

Trust Bush, and ya get what's commin'.

[Kagemusha]

3. Yeah well, maybe they can bother to vote Democratic this time

Hurting the seniors a month and a half before midterms might not have been the smartest plan.

[MannyGoldstein]

5. I Hope You're Correct! nt

[lumpy]

10. I resent the implication that all seniors voted

for the ass sitting in the oval office. I am a senior and the seniors I know did NOT vote for Bush or any Republican candidates. Some of you assume that all seniors vote for Republican candidates for some damn reason. The implication that all seniors are stupid or senile and will get what's coming to them is insulting. Fortunately I did not sign up for prescription benefits and actually I don't know anyone who did. Pick on the ignorant Young Republican groups if you want to slam someone.

[Kagemusha]

12. I'm not the one who wrote "suckers" for the record.

Taking a second look at this, I see how a person could be offended at the implication ALL seniors should be considered suckers. Absolutely not. However, those who, through no fault of their own, FEEL like they've been suckered, should act on that feeling at the polls this November. Those who knew the freight train was coming and who planned to retaliate at the polls all along, good for them.

The thought should in no way be taken as implying that all seniors are suckers or senile or anything of the sort. I'm sorry you felt the need to overreact to what was intended as a narrow point. But in the end, I'd just like to see people with proven power to affect government policy to DO SOMETHING about it if they don't like it...

[lumpy]

14. I hope I didn't upset you. Sorry also, if I did.

It's just that there have been discussions regarding this before on this forum. Some of the statements made are insulting to those of us who are lifelong supporters of the Democratic party, as well as disrespectful of those who were taken in by false promises.

[Kagemusha]

16. Ah, I see... that is indeed regretful.

I feel like there's a lot of roles young people can play but, collective political clout comes hard to them. The Democratic Party needs all the help it can get and unfortunately, right now, it's mutual for seniors. I hope some good comes of it - this doughnut hole's a horrid thing to inflict on good people everywhere.

[StClone]

19. A car passed with a huge bumper sticker

"IMPEACH BUSH" on the rear, center of the car trunk. Seen on Sept 23 as I was riding my bike in the middle of nowhere. The driver was a little 70-ish lady, with I think her husband. I bet they didn't vote for Bush and it made my day.

[acmejack]

23. It's that famous "liberal" compassion!

So often brought up here in counterpoint to those nasty conservatives. Interesting, but especially on weekends, I sometimes am amazed by what I read here. Soulessness doesn't have a party.

[roguevalley]

29. I agree with you, lumpy. I'm a senior and so are my folks. This

generalizing crap has got to end.

[fasttense]

17. How do you know they didn't vote Democratic? n/t

[lumpy]

11. That is a nasty thing to say. All Seniors did not

support or vote for Bush. Insulting and disrespecful. Manny,didn't your folks teach you to respect your elders or are you so jaded that you think old people don't count.

[clydefrand]

28. Wrong, wrong. Many of us old people didn't vote for Bush!

Never, never! But you do what you have to do. Many people are better off with the Plan D. I personally am so far since my coverage didn't start until March. However, next year, I'll reach the doughnut hole. My sister who lives in an assisted living facility has much larger prescription bills than I do. She reached the doughnut hole and had to pay over $700 a month until she came back up to whatever the cut off is.

She didn't vote at all. I chose her plan for her.

[xxqqqzme]

4. "...Trying to explain that this is the way

the program was created by Congress angers folks who think it makes no sense. Many people feel blindsided."

And to make certain those angry old people don't have a chance to vent that anger, we get an expensive federal ID requirement - no doubt privatized by some rethug contributor in a multiple billion dollar contract - to disenfranchise those very same people.

[RamboLiberal]

6. Nice timing Rethuglicans - hope it bites you in the butt

come November. Seniors are among the most reliable to vote. I wouldn't want a bunch of pissed off seniors coming to the polls in November. Be a good time for Dems to hold a few campaign events in Senior Centers and bring several boxes of donut holes and do a few ads telling seniors exactly who were the idiots who crafted this donut hole.

[lumpy]

13. Well I hope a lot of pissed off seniors go to

the polls, especially those who voted for Bushco. You can bet that the majority of those who voted for the Republican agenda have been life long Republicans who live off corporate benefits and don't need financial help re.prescriptions. AARP did a number on some seniors who subscribe to their phony publications. By the way not all seniors citizens live in Senior centers. Most seniors are independent and manage to hold on to their homes with minimal income. People like myself learned how to do without during the 30s depression and that's what we do.

[RamboLiberal]

26. Well when I said Senior Centers I was also thinking of AARP

and other Senior Meeting Centers. Come on Dems, market, market, market.

[LibDemAlways]

7. No where does that article pin the blame for this

travesty on Bush and the repukes. The chimp ran around the country touting this like he was doing seniors a big favor, when in fact the whole thing was a boondoggle designed to enrich the coffers of big pharma. Where were the Dems? They should have been out getting the message across that the repukes were only trying to shaft them. Instead they talked about "fixing" the plan later on. Hell of a lot of good that does the people trying to cope with astronomical drug costs they thought they would no longer have to deal with.

Why elderly people vote repuke, completely against their own self interest, is a mystery.

[cosmicdot]

9. the Bill should have failed in the Senate

of course, the hammer went down at 6 a.m. in the House after who knows what blackmailing and bullying took place which finally switched the vote to pass by 5 votes ...

"The House passed the bill in a controversial vote early Saturday after late-night phone calls from the president, a move credited with helping get the bill passed there. A three-hour vote was ended by GOP leaders at 6 a.m., after a 218 to 216 deficit flipped to a 220 to 215 victory."


I agree ... where were the Dems, indeed ...


9 Republicans voted against it.

There haven't been many bills from the Bu$h agenda with 9 nay GOP votes.

If Trent Lott can vote against it and sell his stance in Mississippi, certainly Carper could sell it Delaware or Lincoln in Arkansas or Landrieu in Louisiana or Feinstein in California.

11 Democrats voted for it.

2 Democrats missed the vote.

54 yeas 44 nays

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=1&vote=00459

Feinstein called it better than no bill at all, and hailed it a victory for Senior citizens.

Democrats - Yea votes

Baucus (D-MT)
Breaux (D-LA)
Carper (D-DE)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Miller (D-GA)
Nelson (D-NE)
Wyden (D-OR)

GOP - Nay votes

Chafee (R-RI)
Ensign (R-NV)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Lott (R-MS)
McCain (R-AZ)
Nickles (R-OK)
Sununu (R-NH)


Not Voting - 2
Kerry (D-MA)
Lieberman (D-CT)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/12/08/elec04.medicare/
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/11/25/elec04.medicare/index.html

[CountAllVotes]

18. just one more reason NOT to vote for Feinstein

she is so disgusting. She need not worry about the "donut hole" for she lives in a mansion in Pacific Heights. I will never vote for this greed mongering woman again.

One too many votes that do not represent me Dear Dianne.

P.S. Point well taken. Most seniors do vote and everyone I know did not vote for *. Blame it on something else, like people like Feinstein living in her mansion in the sky that need not worry about something called "Medicare" and oh yeah, those little black boxes called "voting machines" don't help one tiny little bit either.

:kick:

[saigon68]

21. They voted to prevent Gays from marrying

And to prevent the TRAMP down the block from getting an abortion.

To those who did vote for these reasons. (not all seniors)

Fuck You

[blitzen]

8. it's not, as the article says, an "unusual setup"....

it's pretty much standard practice for all insurance plans nowadays...Basically a grand larceny scheme that has "transferred wealth" from most all of us into the pockets of Frist and friends.

[aquart]

15. Right before elections. Super timing. Super.

The genius of the Republicans continues unabated.

Now if the kids have to get a second mortgage to pay for Dad's meds, or let Mom move in because she can afford rent or meds........

There might be some annoyance.

[Vinca]

20. Don't bash seniors -

in George Bush's America the not-so-rich have to take what they can get and that isn't much. All I can say is the timing for the doughnut hole couldn't have been better.

[katinmn]

22. Rise up, seniors! Many are already disgusted with Bush

I snuck in and read AARP's political discussion board before and after the 04 election. Many of the posts made me think of DU. There is a lot of distrust even outright hatred for Bush among seniors. They fought changes in Social Security (won) and Medicare (lost), but as we all know, the will of the people means nothing in this country.

BTW, many were questioning who was behind 9/11, they were discussing election fraud, and the bumbler-in-chief's war experience. They're worried about their grandkids being drafted.

[Dudley_DUright]

24. and to add insult to injury, there is this little tidbit on page 2

Beneficiaries must continue to pay premiums averaging $24 a month, even in months when they are on their own. The calculation starts anew every year.

It would be hard to design a worse drug plan, but I am sure the republicans would be up to the challenge if big pharma asked.

[Tanuki]

25. We really need to focus on the elderly

in our get-out-the-vote efforts. I work with seniors, and part of what I do involves mental status examinations. One of the questions aimed at evaluating orientation and memory asks them to name the current president. Almost every person (age 65 to 90+)I have tested recently has made a negative "aside", such as "I can't stand him," "he's the sorriest man I ever saw", etc. Sending shuttle buses to bring voters to the polls from senior citizen residences will be crucial.

[truthisfreedom]

27. funny... if we weren't delivering Democracy at the point of a gun in other

countries, we'd have plenty of money to take care of our OWN DAMNED COUNTRY.