Advocacy is needed as influence to change Medicare D(isasrter) is necessary. Others who have joined together to change this horrendous legislation are listed in the final paragraph of this diary.
They include
Americans United–a group that rose from the ashes of Americans United to Protect Social Security–is leading a coalition to reform Part D. In addition to participating in the AU coalition, the liberal advocacy group Campaign for America’s Future is teaming up with Moveon.org, the Public Campaign Action Fund and USAction to educate voters in key districts about the real costs of the Medicare boondoggle. Last week, several prominent groups–including the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, Consumers Union, Families USA, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, U.S. PIRGS and USAction–met with Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin to begin plotting on how to best force action…
It is necessary for more to assist in their efforts, similar to the actions that were taken when gwb was attempting to privatize Social Security.
The pieces for an effort that includes the blogosphere appear to be falling into place. As stated earlier,
In order to get increased media coverage re: the problems that Medicare D(istater) has caused it is necessary to start flooding the papers w/LTE’s. In addition, IMO, it is necessary to contact allcongresscritters, even the wingnuts who supported it and voice their displeasure. (After all, it is a mid-term election year.)
Many of those who have been harmed by Medicare D(isaster) have no voice. It is necessary to speak up for them.
more below
In addition to voicing displeasure with Medicare D(isaster), it is also necessary to state previous inconsistencies that have been made by the powers that be. Examples follow.
Original Responses:
Senator Edward Kennedy:
Medicare D [is a} “systemwide failure” that…”puts the health of our frailest citizens at great risk.”
Senator Hillary Clinton:
comapared…the government’s response [to the problems that people had getting their rx’s] to Hurricane Katrina, calling Medicare D [is] a “man-made disaster”.
Partisan Responses:
Senator Charles Grassley:
“Let’s focus on the administrative remedies now because they will deliver help a lot faster than any legislation.”
Senator Jay Rockefeller:
“It’s [legislatice remedies are] always premature. It was premature that the Titanic went down. But it did indeed disappear.”
Political Strategy:
Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston:
“There’s a tremendous opportunity for members of Congress to go out there and be the white knights — to listen, answer questions and get in the weeds with their constituents…But for members who feel they don’t want to bother, they are going to hear from those voters in November.”
Rep. Philip Gingrey, R-Ga., a physician who voted for the program:
“It’s no windfall politically…It could hurt us, but sometimes doing the right thing does hurt.”
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y:
“This Medicare bill is the biggest government fiasco in recent memory.”
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill re: the “donut hole”/gap in coverage (increased expenses):
“If you think…[senior citizens] are mad now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Solutions Discussed:
Senator Carl Levin intended to introduce legislation to:
- Prohibit the clause that allows Medicare drug plans to change the list of prescription drugs they will pay for during a calendar year.
- …propose that insurance companies be allowed to change their list of covered drugs, called formularies, only once each year during the patient open-enrollment period.
- Eliminate prescription-drug co-pays for patients who used to receive their prescription drugs for free through Medicaid.
- Offer relief to those seniors who used to pay a fraction of their drug costs through pharmaceutical company plans designed to help low-income Americans. Many seniors and disabled people who qualified for that help now aren’t eligible for low-income assistance…and must pay more for their medications.
- Eliminate the segment of Medicare drug coverage called the doughnut hole…for most Medicare beneficiaries it begins when their total drug costs reach $2,500 — during which beneficiaries must continue paying a monthly premium for their Medicare prescription drug plans, but they receive no help with their drug costs.
Senator Dick Durbin:
The Medicare bill was drafted with the most powerful Republican donors in mind: pharmaceutical and insurance companies…Republicans followed an ideological belief…by forbidding Medicare from negotiating with pharmaceutical companies and handing the program over to private companies offering hundreds of plans…Americans expect us to put their interests ahead of special interests. Republicans should join Democrats in their plan to extend the enrollment period and in efforts to allow Medicare to offer drug coverage directly and to negotiate prices much as the Department of Veterans Affairs does.
HHS Unaware Of Medicare D(isaster) Problems:
Senator Charles Schumer:
“He (Leavitt) seemed incredulous when I told him, but said he wasn’t really aware of the problems…I was surprised by that.”
Waxman: Medicare Overhaul?
Henry Waxman:
“America’s seniors and America’s taxpayers deserve honesty, simplicity, and a fair deal…[and the government should use] the purchasing power of all of America’s seniors to get low prices and better coverage…corruption, incompetence, and an ideology that favors private profits over public programs all played a role…The program was turned over to hundreds of private insurers who can charge what they want, cover what drugs they want, and change what they cover at will…Instead of the certainty of Medicare coverage, seniors are now faced with a confusing array of choices, inaccurate information, and sometimes even higher costs.”
Congessional Hearings Open:
Sen. Blanche Lincoln:
pharmacists in her state have had to take out loans because they could not get reimbursed quickly enough for drugs dispensed to customers who had no means to pay them.
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Bill Nelson, D-Fla.:
…met older people who were in tears when they talked about problems filling prescriptions.
Senator Clinton:
“I for one believe we should scrap this and start over.”
Senator Elizabeth Dole:
“It is nearly impossible to avoid startup challenges, but we now we must identify those individuals who are vulnerable and make certain that their needs are met.”
Loss Of Credibility:
Henry Waxman:
Medicare officials had lost credibility. “They tell us that prices are amazingly low when seniors can see with their own eyes that that isn’t the case.”
Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis.:
basing multiyear estimates for [the total costs to the taxpayers of such] a complex program on one month’s data was “ludicrous.”
and
Henry Waxman said in a letter to Speaker Dennis Hasert:
“The problems faced by the Medicare program in implementing the benefit are spilling over and having significant impacts on the Social Security program.”
when calling for congressional action to restore $200 million to the Social Security administrative budget.
Another Voice:
Nancy Pelosi:
“The Bush budget reduces the quality of Medicare services for our seniors.”
Humana ‘s Practices Questioned:
Rep. Pete Stark’s letter to CMS:
Humana’s practice of paying higher commissions for Medicare Advantage plans “is violating CMS regulations.”
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon to Mark McClellan:
“I think Congress is going to change the enrollment period for you.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley:
“I’d like to say that the implementation has gone smoothly…We all know it hasn’t, especially for some of the nation’s most frail and neediest beneficiaries.”
Olympia Snowe of Maine:
“We ought to extend this so that we can get this right.”
Medicare D(isaster) Compared To Hurricane Katrina:
Olympia Snowe:
“I can’t imagine why we’d spend $700 billion on this benefit and not allow the secretary to maximize the taxpayers’ money.”
Senator Kent Conrad:
the senators who described problems with the new plan as “growing pains” were “detached from reality…[and]
…the implementation of the benefit as [a]“fiasco, botched, bungled. There has been no greater government failure since Katrina.”
More From MI:
Sander Levin:
They’ve tried to downplay the problem of so many people not enrolling and so many people who have had gargantuan problems.”
Senator Debbie Stabenow:
The enrollment numbers for the new Medicare prescription drug program are inflated and misleading…This is just one more indication that the drug benefit is not working as it was intended or as it is being portrayed.”
Price Increased Questioned:
Rep. Jan Schakowsky D-Ill
“The conclusion is, private [Medicare] drug plans are no great bargain.”
Senator Dick Durbin wrote:
…little can be done by Republicans beyond convincing “seniors and conservatives that the program is really not that bad.” Americans expect us to put their interests ahead of special interests. Republicans should join Democrats in their plan to extend the enrollment period and in efforts to allow Medicare to offer drug coverage directly and to negotiate prices much as the Department of Veterans Affairs does.
Town Hall Meetings:
Nancy Pelosi:
“Democrats are holding town hall meetings across the country to talk to the Americans directly affected by the Republican culture of corruption, and work for a complete overhaul of this disastrous plan.”
A Gradual Change?:
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.:
“I think pressure is building on Congress and the Bush administration to get this straightened out…My hope is in the coming weeks we’ll be able to pass legislation to get it straightened out.”
Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio:
“How can anyone blame seniors if they’ve been either too perplexed or too wary to enter the fray?”
Rep. Michael Bilirakis, R-Fla.:
“We should all have an open mind on some of these things, particularly in that area.”
However, it is worth noting that there has been a gradual shift in the statements that have been made re: Medicare D(isaster). Earlier statements were in favor of a complete overhaul. The later statements are more of an emphasis on the preservation of Medicare D(isaster), specifically, the extension of the enrollment period, and the ability for to be able to negotiate the best price. Anything less than an complete overhaul is a disservice to the people that Medicare D(isaster) is supposed to serve.
Ideally, the corporate interests will have to take a back seat for a change. This is further necessary to advocate for a single payer health care plan to be implemented. And, it is possible. The fact of the matter is that people perceive government as a tool of big business. In addition, government is also seen as non-responsive to the concerns of the citizens of this country. As this is an election year, there is more pressure than normal for elected officials to act for their constituents, as opposed to big business.
But, the question remains, will that happen? It won’t if people don’t speak up about their concerns and the concerns of others. In most instances, the problems with Medicare D(isaster) have been ignored by MSM, which in turn causes a lack of awareness/apathy about the situation among the general public.
Medicare D(isaster) effects everyone–not just those who have had to sign up for it or be auto-enrolled. Not just the friends and families of others who assisted with the enrollement nightmare. Not just those who feel that they don’t have to worry about it because of their age or the fact that they are presenty in good health.
Before 1991, I was also one of those people who really didn’t pay attention to health care as an issue, although I did follow politics. (I have never missed an election!) Then, I sustained a traumatic brain injury at work and my life changed drastically. I began to notice and appreciate things more than I did in the past. However, it took a long time to be able to do so.
And going through all of the nonsense that I had to was pure hell. Oringinally, I was denied medical treatment. (That itself was a nightmare that I would not wish on anyone.)Maybe that is the main reason that I am so into following Medicare D(isaster), a single payer health care system, and whatever the eventual outcome will be. I sometimes wonder if my life would have been different had this country had a single payer health care system.
The point that I am trying to make is that nothing in life can be taken for granted, especially one’s health. Unfortunately, that is what is being advocated by this admimistration and others who refuse to realize the importance of health care as a human right. So, the reforming of Medicare D(isaster) has to include a single payer health care system. Otherwise, it is meaningless.
