Penalizing Seniors
Dear editor:
Medicare Rx (Part D) is meant to be a financial prop for the elderly, allowing them to buy prescriptions at a reduced rate. For those on a fixed income in their senior years, this program will help those who take expensive medications on a regular, usually lifetime basis. And although the work to weave your way through the maze of plans available, all at different prices, is not easy, the effort has its rewards.
In my case the savings are almost $1,200 per annum, against what I was paying for reduced prices from Canada, and close to $1,600 when compared to domestic drug costs. It took about a month to work my way through all the plans available in my state, but with the help of a computer, a telephone, and information received in the mail, I was able to make an informed decision on what was best for me. But, there are approximately five to six million seniors, who are not in a position yet to understand all the information available, that find themselves in a quandary as to which plan is best for them.
So what did President Bush and the Republican Congress do to help these fixed income seniors who couldn’t make an informed decision on which plan to buy for prescription drugs by May 15th? They are allowing the insurance industry that writes these policies, to penalize them. That’s right, these unsigned Medicare seniors will pay a penalty for not signing up by the May 15th date. And for every month they wait, even if the cost of the plan doesn’t warrant their signing on yet, their penalty will grow until they finally sign on at a higher cost. That’s helping those that need help?
Why was this penalty provision put into the Medicare Rx law? Because it accomplishes two things for the insurance industry, which probably wrote the law: 1) It forces into the plan those who aren’t using enough medication to warrant paying for the plan now, as they are afraid of paying an ever increasing penalty when they finally do join, based upon their needs; 2) It is a financial gift of increased income to those insurance companies that supported Mr. Bush and his party.
Methods such as this make one wonder who the Medicare Rx law was really written to help, seniors or the insurance industry that is receiving a bonanza of financial aid from the government, putting our government further into financial debt. After all, seniors on fixed incomes can’t afford to pay for golf trips to Scotland, use of private jets, high paying do-nothing jobs for relatives, meals at the finest restaurants, lobbying jobs after leaving Congress, etc, etc.
So instead we penalize five or six million seniors.
Medicare Rx (Part D) is meant to be a financial prop for the elderly, allowing them to buy prescriptions at a reduced rate. For those on a fixed income in their senior years, this program will help those who take expensive medications on a regular, usually lifetime basis. And although the work to weave your way through the maze of plans available, all at different prices, is not easy, the effort has its rewards.
In my case the savings are almost $1,200 per annum, against what I was paying for reduced prices from Canada, and close to $1,600 when compared to domestic drug costs. It took about a month to work my way through all the plans available in my state, but with the help of a computer, a telephone, and information received in the mail, I was able to make an informed decision on what was best for me. But, there are approximately five to six million seniors, who are not in a position yet to understand all the information available, that find themselves in a quandary as to which plan is best for them.
So what did President Bush and the Republican Congress do to help these fixed income seniors who couldn’t make an informed decision on which plan to buy for prescription drugs by May 15th? They are allowing the insurance industry that writes these policies, to penalize them. That’s right, these unsigned Medicare seniors will pay a penalty for not signing up by the May 15th date. And for every month they wait, even if the cost of the plan doesn’t warrant their signing on yet, their penalty will grow until they finally sign on at a higher cost. That’s helping those that need help?
Why was this penalty provision put into the Medicare Rx law? Because it accomplishes two things for the insurance industry, which probably wrote the law: 1) It forces into the plan those who aren’t using enough medication to warrant paying for the plan now, as they are afraid of paying an ever increasing penalty when they finally do join, based upon their needs; 2) It is a financial gift of increased income to those insurance companies that supported Mr. Bush and his party.
Methods such as this make one wonder who the Medicare Rx law was really written to help, seniors or the insurance industry that is receiving a bonanza of financial aid from the government, putting our government further into financial debt. After all, seniors on fixed incomes can’t afford to pay for golf trips to Scotland, use of private jets, high paying do-nothing jobs for relatives, meals at the finest restaurants, lobbying jobs after leaving Congress, etc, etc.
So instead we penalize five or six million seniors.
posted by Sam Schoolsky | 5:53 PM
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