With Deadline Looming, Bush Touts Failed Prescription Drug Plan

With Monday's sign-up deadline looming, President Bush will attend several events designed to sell his failed Medicare prescription drug program. But, despite clear evidence that many seniors have yet to sign up for the prescription drug plan and that many are unaware of the penalties if they miss the May 15th deadline, President Bush and Republicans in Congress refuse to extend the enrollment deadline. These current complications come after the plan's costs nearly doubled from what the Bush White House initially promised and after six months of implementation problems.

"The President's prescription drug plan is a big give away to the pharmaceutical and insurance industries that's left many seniors confused, frustrated and looking for answers," said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Stacie Paxton. "President Bush should explain to seniors why he won't move the deadline to allow more seniors access to the program.

"This plan is not just a failure that is undermining the health security of our seniors, but another example of the chronic pattern of misleading from the Bush White House, as they were not truthful regarding the costs nor about the numbers of seniors who will benefit from the program. The American people want change, not more of the same misleading and failed policies. Together, America can do better."

Medicare Deadline Should Be Extended
Bush's Misleading Rhetoric: Most Seniors Already Had Prescription Drug Coverage. President Bush is traveling the country highlighting the latest data that shows 29 million people have signed up for prescription drug programs, including nearly 18 million in Medicare part D. On April 12th he noted, "Now, I know that sounds too good to be true, but it's happening all across the country. As a matter of fact, 29 million people have signed up for this program." But, what President Bush fails to note is that 74 percent of those 29 million already had prescription drug coverage via Medicaid, a Medicare advantage plan, or an employer/union plan. [President Bush, 4/12/06, emphasis added; Office of the House Democratic Leader, emphasis added]

Majority Of Seniors Unaware Of May 15th Deadline; Barely Half Know About Penalties. "Less than three weeks remain for most Medicare beneficiaries to sign up for prescription drug coverage without penalty, but nearly half the nation's seniors don't know it. Despite a nationwide campaign by government and private organizations, only 55% of seniors realize the deadline is May 15, according to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent health care research group. Only 53% know enrolling after the deadline will cost 1% more per month." [USA Today, 4/26/06]

• Beneficiaries Face Hefty Fines. Those beneficiaries who sign up past the May 15 deadline will face a significant penalty -- an increase in monthly premiums of 1 percent for every month past the deadline. In addition, if a beneficiary misses the deadline, they cannot enroll until the Fall, for coverage starting in January 2007. This means that they will automatically be subject to a 7 percent minimum penalty for the rest of their lives. [Office of the House Democratic Leader]

Bush Plan Faced Numerous Hurdles
Beneficiaries Overcharged, Turned Away From Pharmacies Under New Drug Benefit. "Since the drug coverage took effect on Jan. 1, many low-income beneficiaries have been overcharged, and some were turned away from pharmacies without getting their medications because the pharmacies could not confirm their enrollment. The problems have been so widespread that more than 20 states have stepped in to pay drug claims that should have been paid by the federal Medicare program." [New York Times, 1/18/06]

Pharmacists and Seniors Struggle With New Prescription Drug Plan. "The new benefit has led to more paperwork, numerous phone calls to hard-to-reach plan managers and inconsistent information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the private drug companies. 'It's not the wholesaler or the retailer that's winning,' said [pharmacy owner Tom] Bartholomew. 'The insurance companies and the drug companies are in bed with each other.'" [Aberdeen American News, 3/12/06]

Medicare Plan Bewildering, Serves as "Bonanza" for Drug and Insurance Industries. "With its bewildering and useless 'choices' of dozens of plans and vendors, its additional costs to more than six million low-income elderly Medicaid patients, its 'doughnut hole' of huge out-of-pocket expenses, and windfall profits to the drug and insurance industries. The fragmentation, inefficiency, and burden to the elderly are the predictable consequence of Bush's treatment of his program as a bonanza for the drug and insurance industries." [The American Prospect, March, 2006]

Bush's Medicare Plan Will Cost Almost Double What He First Claimed. "The federal government plans to spend more than $700 billion during the next 10 years to provide drug coverage under Medicare as part of a landmark bill signed by President Bush in December 2003." Originally, Bush's prescription drug plan was to have cost $400 billion over 10 years. [Chicago Tribune, 2/26/06; Washington Post, 1/29/04]