Part D works if goal is to funnel $$$$$ to pharmaceutical companies.

[Karmadillo]

Government policy designed to benefit corporations at the expense of everyone else? Who would have believed such a thing possible? I'm trying to figure out what elderly relatives should do and I'm thinking I'd have more success finding WMDs in Iraq. One more issue for the Dems if they want to play the populist card (ie, actually represent those of us who aren't corporations).

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=20777

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The Bush administration and many congressional Republicans couldn't be happier. For them, it's working exactly as designed. The drug and insurance companies that wrote this 2003 bill are laughing all the way to the bank. (And two of the people who helped the bill become law -- former Louisiana Republican Rep. Billy Tauzin, head of the committee that steered the bill through the House, and Thomas Scully, then head of the federal agency that runs Medicare -- were promptly rewarded with lucrative jobs as Big Pharma lobbyists.)

How lucrative is it? Amazingly, for a program that funnels more prescription drug purchases than any other in the world, Part D is prohibited by law from doing what every state program, insurance company, hospital, and pharmacy does: negotiate discounts with pharmaceutical companies based on quantity of purchase. Part D, by law, must pay Pharma full price, which is, as we know all too well, whatever the hell Pharma wants to charge. In theory, the individual insurance plans can negotiate discounts -- but not only does this lose the economy of scale, but there's no guarantee with the private companies that any cost savings will be passed on to consumers. Call it welfare for very rich people. Lots of welfare. For people who are now, thanks to this new program rapidly becoming very, very rich.

There are other major problems with Part D, too. I haven't even touched the infamous "doughnut hole," the gap that requires patients pay nearly $3,000 in out-of-pocket expenses with no coverage before benefits resume. Try that while living on your monthly $880 Social Security Disability check.

The upshot is that the Medicare prescription drug plan is ghastly expensive for taxpayers, doesn't cover a lot of what it needs to, isn't serving half the population it's supposed to serve -- and is therefore penalizing us -- and is confusing as hell for anyone who's tried to navigate it. Plus, it's checkbook politics at its worst. It's a disaster. Critics are pushing bills in Congress -- HR 585 and SB 1841 -- to extend the May 15 deadline to the end of 2006, thus giving more Americans a chance to initially enroll. They hope in that extra time to also persuade Congress to, at minimum, abolish the senior tax, fix the formulary loophole, allow Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies, abolish the doughnut hole, and simplify the enrollment process.

more...

[Inland]

1. I'm going to kick and recommend this

because the new Part D is exactly the sort of program that liberals should attack as wasteful, unsustainable and mostly to shovel money to interest groups.

The benefit to the elderly, while there, is at a cost of shoveling money at big pharma. We could give the exact same benefit more cheaply.

Instead, bush is serving three interests: buying votes from seniors, buying contribs from pharma, and making sure medicare goes entirely bust and ending the entire program.

[WePurrsevere]

2. My DH & I are both disabled & on Medicare... we haven't signed up yet....

I've found two "Part D" Rx plans that are very basic for under $10. a month (for each of us) but we're struggling with the choice between signing up for something we're very much against and don't need at this point and having to pay that penalty BS if we ever do need it.

We both hate feeling coerced into joining up with something that we feel has been done mostly in the best interests of Pharm companies... not those that truly need it. :grr:

Thank you for posting this article.

[Tracer]

4. Yes, I feel exactly the same.

I dislike the idea of having to sign up for this program just to avoid being penalized in the future.

There is a Humana basic insurance plan for $7.32 / month that I may just go with -- even though I take no prescription medicines.

[WePurrsevere]

5. I think Humana is the same one we're looking at & that sounds like it's...

the same plan as well... since we don't take any prescription drugs either as a rule. We figure even if we need something in the future the way ourluck runs it won't be covered by whichever we choose anyway. ;) Thankfully our county offers a reduced prescritption plan for all residents in conjunction with the local pharmacies so if it's not we at least won't have to pay full price.

It's just so annoying to be put in this position. It's also a decent size chunk out of many folks small monthly check... heck as the year goes on any amount out hurts more as our buying power goes down with inflation going up. I think every state and federal rep should have to live off of ONLY what we get per year for 1 year... and no cheating. Maybe that would buy these idiots a clue as to what it's like to live in the REAL world ya know?

[UTUSN]

3. Absolutely, just on the FACE OF IT, consider

the HUNDREDS of medical insurance companies, each with its thousands of employees, calling and keyboarding and registering dollar signs.

[dmr]

6. My doc & I sat down today to find a way to keep

me from falling into that damn doughnut hole with my 9 prescriptions - one of which costs 400 $ a month & was changed today to a much cheaper drug. The doc did some other changes too. I'm hoping there won't be any problems with these changes. Time will tell, I guess.

I think I might be okay with the doughnut hole now, but will know more tomorrow when I get the pharmacy bill.

My state automatically enrolled me in a plan, but also supplied info for me to choose on my own - which I have not done - I think it's all a damned if you, damned if you don't type situation. I'm just tired of being sick with worry about all this.

[pdxmom]

7. I have a friend who is dying. She has lupus, cancer and congestive

heart failure. We all know she isn't going to be with us much longer. But she's a tough old bird and insists on living in her own apartment and enjoying life to the end.

Today, I gave her $150. This was to buy the morphine that is no longer covered under her Part D. She can get lesser pain pills, but nothing that will control it. Yesterday, her doctor upped her dosage of morphine, due to the agony she suffers daily. She didn't want to tell him she couldn't afford to get that medication any longer...last month she had only $6 to last her 5 days, until her next Social Security check came in.

Medicare prescription drug plan is a joke and those of us still young enough to not require it better start planning now.