Email from Hillary on Medicare Prescription Drug Plan

[HockeyMom]

I guess I am on her mailing list now.


August 2, 2005

Dear Mrs.....:

As New York's seniors grapple with the staggering cost of long
term care and struggle to understand the new Medicare
prescription drug coverage plan, I unveiled a new resource guide
on the prescription drug benefit and announced new legislation to
help seniors address their long-term care needs while remaining
within their homes and communities. The new Medicare
prescription drug benefit goes into effect in January 2006.

We must do everything we can to help reduce the confusion and
complexity of enrolling in the new Medicare prescription drug
plans. As seniors deal with the new plans, mistakes can potentially
cut off access to critical medicines, I hope that this new resource
guide will be a helpful tool for New Yorkers. The guide answers
some of the most commonly asked questions that New Yorkers
have shared with me and my staff over the last year. It also
includes a list of contacts and resources to help seniors and their
families get their individual questions and cases addressed.

Under the new Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (or "Part D"),
insurance companies and other private companies will soon work
with Medicare to offer prescription drug plans. My Guide to
Prescription Drug Coverage Under Medicare is designed as a
resource guide to help seniors make critical decisions about the
Medicare prescription drug benefit.

I also introduced long-term care legislation before Congress
adjourned for the August recess that will improve access to home-
and community-based services. The legislation provides tax
deductions for the cost of long-term care insurance and tax credits
for individuals and their care givers to help cover long-term care
expenses not covered by insurance.

As long-term care expenses escalate, caring for our loved ones is a
growing concern for so many New Yorkers. In talking with
seniors across the state, what I hear most is that people want to stay
in their homes as long as they can. This legislation will not only
allow seniors to remain independent and live in their own homes,
but it will also help reduce Medicaid costs and encourage people to
purchase private long-term care insurance.

To assist seniors in meeting their long-term care needs, my
legislation will establish a national clearinghouse on long-term
care information. The legislation also expands long term care
insurance consumer protections.

The Guide to Prescription Drug Coverage Under Medicare is
available on my website at http://www.clinton.senate.gov.

Sincerely yours,
Hillary Rodham Clinton





http://clinton.senate.gov

[Cleita]

1. I hope she can figure it out because I can't.

I just got my packet that "explains" it to me. What a thoroughly byzantine piece of crappy legislation this is IMHO. All seniors need is the medication they need, nothing more and nothing less. If Medicare just gave us a prescription benefit even with a co-pay, that is all that is needed. It would have been better if Medicare could have negotiated with the pharma industry for better prices from their end, not throw this at old sick people to cope with at a time in their lives when they need things to be simpler not more complicated.

[FloridaPat]

2. People get kicked off food stamps if they use this program wrong.

So nice to see the Democrats working for the people. Right.