Free Republic

When Mike Leavitt first came to Rhode Island last summer to promote the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, the feeling across the country was that the new program was so complex, that millions of seniors would just avoid it. Flanked by local officials at a Warwick senior center, the Health and Human Services secretary tried to assuage everyone’s concerns in advance. “If you’re a senior, don’t worry,” he said. “There will be plenty of people to help you.” It turns out that despite all the confusion, and all the bad publicity at the beginning of the year when some...

Rep. Marion Berry: Good morning. I'm Congressman Marion Berry of Arkansas, a senior citizen, a pharmacist, and someone who has spent the past five years trying to give the American people an acceptable Medicare prescription drug benefit. I have fought alongside my Democratic colleagues to put seniors first and I have watched with complete amazement as the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress forced a disastrous prescription drug scheme on America's greatest generation.

It is official. On the 15th of next I become OLD.Were I a car instead I would become a 'classic'. Maybe a '41' Buick, DeSoto, Kaiser-Frazier or Studebaker.But I'm not so I'll just be an old man with clogged pipes, sludge in the oil, a stiff differential and worn out joints. A man with less income and no medical insurance approachingdecision time inundated by mountains of conflicting information.(Like trying to process a program that would stretch a super-computer with only an 8 bit processor, 32k of unreliable RAM and a cranky CPU.)Freeperstan being the repository of the greatest minds still...

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. - President Bush campaigned Tuesday to boost the troubled new Medicare drug program that is the subject of a fierce election-year debate between Democrats and Republicans. Bush pleaded with older Americans — a key voting block, particularly in midterm congressional elections — to look positively on the new benefit. Under the program, the government subsidizes medication costs for the elderly and disabled through plans created by private insurers. In effect since January, it has been under fire from Democrats as too confusing for seniors with its numerous plans and coverage gaps — and from some conservative Republicans as...

In Case You Missed It: Survey Refutes Criticism Of Medicare Drug Plan From The Washington Post By Bill Brubaker March 13, 2006 A majority of senior citizens in a recent poll say they had no trouble using -- or signing up for -- the controversial 10-week-old Medicare prescription drug plan, health insurance officials said today. The survey of more than 800 seniors differs from assertions by politicians and health and senior citizen advocacy groups that many Medicare enrollees have had difficulty choosing a drug plan from among the dozens that are being offered. "The data are very encouraging," Karen Ignagni,...

WASHINGTON, April 26 — The Bush administration issued a new policy on Wednesday that protects Medicare beneficiaries against the sudden loss of coverage for drugs they are taking under the prescription drug program. Under the policy, insurers can still change their lists of covered drugs, known as formularies. But if they drop any drugs or impose new restrictions, they must exempt beneficiaries who are now taking those drugs. Dr. Mark B. McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, summarized the policy this way: "In general, a plan cannot change your coverage for the drugs you are using...

(AP) ELLETTSVILLE, Ind. With time running out to enroll in the federal government's new prescription drug benefit, advocates for the elderly say they are being inundated with phone calls and last-minute visits from seniors. "The last two weeks have been crazy," said Jason Carnes, the center developer for the Area 10 Agency on Aging, where calls and visits have been running about twice the normal number. Last week, President Bush and other administration officials urged an estimated 6 million to 7 million Medicare beneficiaries still without prescription drug coverage to enroll by May 15. Under the program, 43 million elderly...

The Bush WH has been almost comically inept about getting their message out since Karen Hughes left. The DPW imbroglio is only the latest in the cases where they have been right, and they lost in the PR flurry. The next (or current) mess is how they're handling the Medicare Part D fuss. Medicare Part D is private plans. That should be very attractive to Conservatives. But we are led to believe (from the Libs) that this is a gov't program. It's not. It's a gov't subsidy to get private plans established for older Americans. We're left with hoping that...