New Medicare plan is "Total Disaster"

[louis-t]

This comes from a client of mine (Republican) who runs a pharmaceutical supply company. He says one of the problems is there is "no uniformity" in the system. They are dealing with 30 or 40 insurance companies, each have reduced the number of drugs they cover. None of the companies cover the same drugs. He also says if a senior is covered by, say, a union insurance plan and the person has to go to a nursing home, when the person is switched to Medicaid (happens when all assets run out)the union insurance plan is cancelled-as is the spouses coverage! Also, Medicaid decides which plan the senior is put into and Medicaid is so far behind that the doctors and pharmacies don't know which plan the patients will be in. He says if the Feds (or SOMEBODY) don't step in and fix the system, people are going to start dying in droves.

[Deja Q]

1. Maybe that's the plan?

Peak oil.

Resource usage reduction.

We use resources.

And if the Indians and Chinese think they're better off... Oh, I suspect they're going to get some very special treatment when the time comes.

And you know what? Life is already short, it's obvious most of us won't be around by the time 2010 hits, so why not enjoy what is left? Or at least try to find something positive to smile about in amongst the bad? Dwelling on depression doesn't do anybody a bit of good either.

Of course, we're also pro-life - so don't try assisted suicide...

[librechik]

4. well, if this continues we could burn seniors for fuel n/t

[MrModerate]

6. SOYLENT GREEN IS . . . PEOPLE!

[Crazy Dave]

8. Or "Logan's Run" were

...they're gone after they've outlived their usefulness to society

[still_one]

11. cookies

[HockeyMom]

2. Small pharmacies saying they will go out of business

if it doesn't get fixed soon.

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. Does this come as a surprise?

Why should this one be any different than any other bush deal in the last 5 years?

[ewagner]

5. My M-I-L is in a nursing home...

She was a "dual-eligible" but CMS chose her plan for her....a plan that
the nursing home pharmacy has no relation with. They (the nursing home) is negotiating to resolve the issue. It's a mess.

[Crazy Dave]

7. They (the pukes) were blaming old people yesterday

I forget which idiot was on the radio yesterday saying they need to just "pay attention" and "put a little effort into it" and then they'd see what a great thing it was. Sorry about not having the name but I'm sure the attitude is shared by many of his colleagues.

[GrumpyGreg]

9. This is the worst godamned thing I have ever seen in my life--

and it's been a long one.

[nickyt]

10. We shouldn't even refer to it as a "plan". God, did Michael Brown serve

a stint in Medicare before switching over to FEMA? The "Medicare Apocalypse". They're killing us, people. I hate that this is the way American citizens wake up to (or die from) the reality of this maladmin, but surely this will be the turning point.
They're killing us.

[snippy]

12. We should refer to it as the "REPUBLICAN prescription drug plan."

No democrat should ever call it anything else.

[MO_Dem]

15. Or perhaps,

call it the "REPUBLICAN prescription drug scam"? But then again, republican is the key word, so maybe using the word 'scam' would be a distraction?

[Imagevision]

18. WELL, THE INSURANCE CO.'S DESIGNED CURRENT DRUG PLAN

IT'S NO WONDER IT'S WORKING OUT IN FAVOR OF THE DRUG COMPANIES AND THIS ADMINISTRATION. THIS MEDICARE FIASCO ALREADY SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN SWEPT UNDER THE TABLE BECAUSE OF BUSH GANG INDICTMENTS/INVESTIGATIONS AND TODAYS RECENT UBL AUDIO TAPE.

[demnan]

13. Dammit, let's make sure our parents are well enough to vote

in the next election.

[Imagevision]

14. wITH SO MANY BOOMERS - BUSH COULD'T CARE LESS HOW MANY DIE>

SERIOUSLY, THE MORE BOOMERS WHO DIE QUITE OBVIOUSLY OUR GOVERNMENT WILL BE SAVING MONEY ON PAYOUTS - SURELY SOME HAVE DIED ALREADY FOR GOING WITHOUT THEIR MEDS BECAUSE OF BUSH'S DANDY NEW MEDICARE PLAN HE BRAGGED SO MUCH ABOUT.

THIS IS WHAT THIS CURRENT ADMINISTRATION IS DOING FOR IT'S ELDERS.

[SoCalDem]

16. Look no further than K-Street for a lot of the Medicare Drug "problems"

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=k-street+medical+drug+plan&spell=1


The Silent Coup The Media Forgot: K Street vs. Pennsylvania Avenue
... explains why all of that $647 and more got eaten up by increased medical,
energy, and educational costs. Take the Prescription Drug Plan passed in 2003. ...
www.commondreams.org/views05/0926-30.htm - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

MyDD :: K Street Project Posterchild: Medicare Prescription Drug ...
That's where the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill comes into the picture. ...
As more and more K Street lobbies abandoned Clinton, the plan went down to ...
lindaincincinnati.mydd.com/story/2006/1/14/163931/846 - 24k - Cached - Similar pages

NPR : States Act to Help with Medicare Drug Plan Problems
In some cases, residents in Maine nursing homes were assigned to drug plans in
other states. "If people who are in nursing homes have a guardian, ...
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5157889 - Similar pages

The Silent Coup The Media Forgot: K Street vs. Pennsylvania Avenue
Now, an assortment of K street Corporate shills write legislation, develop tax
proposals, and formulate ... Take the Prescription Drug Plan passed in 2003. ...
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10407.htm - 17k - Cached - Similar pages

Pharmacy Benefits: New Concepts in Plan Design
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
drug benefit. The brief discusses reasons behind employer benefit plan redesign
... is strong evidence many drug therapies reduce medical costs and lost ...
www.nhpf.org/pdfs_ib/IB772_RxBenefitsDesign_3-8-02.pdf - Similar pages

The Medicare Prescription Drug Proposals and Health Insurance Risk
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
respective versions of a Medicare prescription drug benefit plan. ... insurance
shields individuals from the high cost of medical services, risk- ...
www.nhpf.org/pdfs_ib/IB793_MedicareRxRisk_9-2-03.pdf - Similar pages

Medical-device lobby seeks to play with the big boys
But Ubl has already set in motion an ambitious plan to carry out the rest. ...
Unlike the drug and health-insurance industries, for example, device makers ...
www.hillnews.com/thehill/ export/TheHill/Business/102505_adva.html - 36k - Cached - Similar pages

Clinton Plan Attacks Medical Marijuana Initiatives, Targets ...
"Medical Review Officers will not accept physician recommendations for Schedule
I substances as a legitimate explanation for a positive drug test," the plan ...
www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3674 - 60k - Cached - Similar pages

NORML Blasts Bush Anti-Drug Plan Calling For Expanded Student Drug ...
NORML Blasts Bush Anti-Drug Plan Calling For Expanded Student Drug Testing, "Compassionate
Coercion" For Pot Smokers. March 4, 2004 - Washington, DC, USA ...
www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5966 - 55k - Jan 18, 2006 - Cached - Similar pages
< More results from www.norml.org >

Education and Outreach to Potential HIV/AIDS Recipients for
File Format: Microsoft Word - View as HTML
Caseworkers can assist clients in enrolling into a drug plan. ... 4) Work with
HIV-specific medical providers (ie the HIV Medicine Association and the ...
www.theaidsinstitute.org/downloads/CMSeductn305.doc - Similar pages

[Radio_Lady]

17. Our medical plan has picked up our pharmacy plan and it seems to be

smooth sailing -- at least in January. The basic medical plan actually costs a little bit LESS than last year. We were NOT given the option of splitting off the prescription benefit from the medical plan. They came as a unit and if you chose a different prescription plan, you were immediately cut off from the medical plan. It's a little bit hard to figure out.

I was able to get a regular prescription for omeprazole (stomach acid reducer) -- 90 days supply for $30.00 as a generic. That's less than Prilosec OTC (same drug, now out of patent), so that was a win, I guess. It's hard to know.

[SoCalDem]

20. The gamble is that not all plans cover all drugs, and one never

knows when a doctor will change you to another medication or you need a new one that;s not on the plan you chose (or had chosen for you)..

[Radio_Lady]

21. As of now, my doctor does what I say. This is due to my being older

than he is. I think I'm also more knowledgeable about pharmacy products than he is.

Another little twist is that my doctor made a serious error by overprescribing a medication to me for more than a year 2004-2005. Luckily, I didn't die. However, I am unable to discuss this case fully due to confidentiality agreements. Suffice it to say that he apologized, and so did his employer. I vowed then and there that I would become my own caseworker and do the research necessary to suggest procedures and/or drugs to him. It seems to be working.

[dogday]

19. It has a new name now too

Cluster-F**k Care

[peacetalksforall]

22. Is there any segment of our society that has not been screwed by Dick,

George, Don, the Queen, or the Goss Tenet Freeh Ledeen Perle Meese Baker types?

[Radio_Lady]

24. Gee, looks like we're on a first name basis with a lot of folks!

:sarcasm:

[Ksec]

23. That IS the plan.

Theyll use it as an election tool , meanwhile its a total disaster. Theyll just say its a great program and it helps the poor. I can tell you first hand, this is a load of horseshit. Its worthless and its just a way of making the poor buy insurance policies they cant afford (and pay them like 150 bucks before anything even starts to kick in.)

[OneBlueSky]

25. absolutely correct . . . it's a boondoggle for the insurance and . . .

pharmaceutical industries . . . they and their lobbyists, after all, wrote the damn law, and in a way that's very lucrative to their bottom lines . . . so lucrative, in fact, that some HMOs are actually switching ALL of their drug coverage over to Medicare Part D! . . . we have, in a word, been screwed . . .

[zippy890]

26. right, plus the fact that this government DOES NOT KNOW HOW

TO RUN A GOVERNMENT AGENCY

This medicare plan is further proof the this administration is TOTALLY INCOMPETANT when it come to running ANY federal program.

this drug program is a fiasco, is hurting the people its designed to help, and will end up costing more tax dollars for less results.

I'm beyond disgusted as I see first hand in my job everyday whats going on with low income elderly and disabled people.