Medicare Part D is an unmitigated disaster. PA Action, a non-partisan political advocacy group is devoting resources to a campaign dedicated to fixing Medicare Part D in very specific ways. I recently started working as a field organizer on PA Action’s campaign to fix Part D.
On July 29th, we’re sponsoring a Lobby Day at Rep. Fitzpatrick’s (PA-08) Langhorne office. One of the promotional tools is a daily countdown to the event (D-Day on Medicare’s B-Day). It’s a reminder not only of how many days are left until the lobby event but also of what’s wrong with Medicare Part D and the specific, common sense solutions we propose to fix it.
I’ll be posting the countdown here every day until the morning of July 29th. If you live in Bucks County and want the chance to talk to your congressman about the important issue of fixing Medicare’s prescription drug benefit, please get to the event. It should be fun.
13 DAYS UNTIL MEDICARE D-DAY ON MEDICARE’S B-DAY
A Baker’s Dozen! That’s appropriate when we’re talking about donut holes. Of course there are good donut holes and there are bad donut holes. The kind at Dunkin’ Donuts are delicious and are 100% guaranteed to get any kid under thirteen to do his/her mother’s bidding. The other kind aren’t so delicious and are only guaranteed to make the big-donor pharmaceutical and insurance industries happy.
Medicare Part D “donut hole” is really a coverage
gap. The Institute for America’s Future’s report, Falling into the Doughnut Hole explains how it works – or doesn’t work:
Under Part D, standard enrollees will have to pay the first $250 of their medications (in 2006). After this initial deductible, 75% of their drug costs will be covered, leaving the beneficiary to pay the
remaining 25%. However, once the total medication costs have exceeded $2,250 (in 2006), the senior or disabled person must pay for their drugs completely out of pocket, while still paying a monthly premium.
This is the gap in coverage that is known as the doughnut hole. Individuals can only escape the doughnut hole if their total drug costs exceed $5,100 (in 2006), when the catastrophic coverage kicks in and 95% of drug costs are covered. But very few Americans who enter the doughnut hole are expected to get out, and those who do will quickly plunge back into it the following year.
Not delicious at all. Unless you’re the insurance company collecting those premiums while not having to pay out a dime. Or unless you’re the pharmaceutical company charging whatever you want for your product since the ability of the federal government to bargain for lower prices related to this program was expressly forbidden by Medicare Part D.
COME TO MEDICARE D-DAY ON MEDICARE’S B-DAY and show
the county and the country that there is a vital and
engaged political community in Bucks County ready to work and ready to effect real change in what’s happening to our country.
July 29th also marks ONE HUNDRED DAYS before the election. Celebrate all your civil rights and duties by showing up to talk to your congressman about this important issue.
What: Medicare D-Day on Medicare’s B-Day
When: 9:15am Saturday, JULY 29
Where: Oxford Valley Mall – JC Penney parking lot
Why: to lobby Congressman Fitzpatrick to fix Medicare’s Prescription drug benefit
RSVP or get further information by calling Robin at 267.240.9819 or sending email to info@paaction.org.
PA Action’s plan for Medicare Part D:
- Require that Medicare negotiate the cheapest possible prices for drugs with the pharmaceutical companies;
- Eliminate the “Donut Hole” that will add crippling costs to many seniors;
- Offer a prescription drug plan to seniors directly through Medicare that does not require they join private plans;
- End the “bait and switch” provisions that allow private insurance plans to drop coverage for specific drugs while seniors are locked into the plan;
- Reopen an enrollment period so that millions of seniors will not be locked out of help for prescription drug costs — and drop the penalty for joining after May 15.
