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The $400 billion Medicare scam« Thread Started on May 22, 20

Daily newsbrief journal for May 2004, also see http://www.usdemocrats.com/brief for a global 100-page perpetual brief and follow twitter @usdemocrats


The $400 billion Medicare scam« Thread Started on May 22, 20

Postby admin » Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:51 am

The $400 billion Medicare scam« Thread Started on May 22, 2004, 11:18pm »--------------------------------------------------------------------------------The $400 billion Medicare scam. -- talk.politics.misc, 01:38:08 11/27/03 Thuhttp://www.voy.com/76777/9/From: Harry Hope (rivrvu@ix.netcom.com)Subject: The $400 billion Medicare scam. View: Complete Thread (5 articles) Original Format Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc, alt.politics.bush, alt.politics.liberalism, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.gw-bush, alt.politicsDate: 2003-11-26 04:11:43 PST From New York Newsday, 11/26/03: http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-v ... dlines$400 Billion For Medicare Delivers LittleBy Steve Israel Anyone who's ever seen C-SPAN is familiar with how votes are typicallyconducted in the House of Representatives.A vote is called, and what previously seemed a desolate floor becomesenergized.A changing tally and descending clock appear on the screen.When the time is up, usually after about 15 minutes, the gavel comesdown, the vote is over, the result is announced and the House proceedsto new business.Imagine the contention and anger on the House floor Saturday when,after the bill overhauling Medicare appeared to be defeated by twovotes at 3 a.m., Republicans kept the vote open for an extra threehours - making it the longest vote in House history.If anyone had any doubts about just how bad this 678-page bill hadbecome, that doubt should have been erased by the fact that it tookthree extra hours of arm-twisting (including frantic calls byPresident George W. Bush ) to force members of Congress to switchtheir votes and put this mess over the top.This is not what I envisioned when I was one of only nine Democratswho voted to move the bill forward into a House-Senate conference lastJune.That bill contained my amendment to help solve the unfair policy thattossed 85,000 Long Island seniors out of their Medicare HMOs.Although other aspects of the bill were flawed, I believed it wasimportant to move the process forward and give the conference anopportunity to improve the bill, rather than kill it prematurely.But the bill changed dramatically, although my amendment was retained.House extremists refused to budge on critical issues, stripped outimportant cost savings and went back on their word on allowingreimportation of safe, affordable pharmaceuticals from Canada.Let's start with the meager benefit itself:Never has $400 billion purchased so little.The strange patchwork of coverage would result in wild variations inthe amount of savings, depending on how much a beneficiary spends onprescription drugs.This on-again, off-again benefit applies between $251 and $2,250 indrug expenses, then terminates between $2,251 and $5,100 in totalcosts, then resumes after $5,100.Seniors with drug costs as high as $5,000 will end up paying $4,000out of pocket.Someone who spends $800 annually on prescriptions could actually losemoney by participating - through a combination of copayments, monthlypremiums and a $250 deductible.There are ways to spend our $400 billion more wisely.In the same way that Wal-Mart offers lower prices by buying in bulk,Medicare could get seniors a better deal by negotiating with drugcompanies.Yet, the secretary of health and human services is explicitly barredfrom using the bargaining power of 40 million Medicare enrollees toget lower prices.And the provision that the House passed allowing for the safe, legalreimportation of prescriptions from Canada was deleted behind closeddoors.The only cost-saving measures in this legislation are those where theseniors and the taxpayers must bear the burden.The prescription drug companies stand to gain billions from thelegislation.Yet, we have made no attempt even to haggle with them.Another reason I could not vote for final passage was the bill'sinsistence on privatizing Medicare.The bill creates six regional "demonstration projects" that requireMedicare to compete with private insurance companies in 2010.Private health insurance companies will control their costs byenrolling only the healthiest seniors, who are less expensive toserve.That will leave high-cost seniors in traditional Medicare.If Medicare is more expensive than the private plans, the billrequires Medicare recipients to pay the difference in higher premiums.Some argue that this provision is an improvement over the earlierversion, since it is only an experiment in six areas, but because ofthe large size of the qualifying regions almost one-quarter of allMedicare beneficiaries could be enrolled in these demonstrations.And experiments tend to be more dangerous when you are the guinea pig.I'm not willing to allow Long Island seniors to see their Medicarepremiums hiked or services cut in a roll of the dice that some calleda compromise.The sad part is that Congress could have done better.Moderate Democrats like me, and many Republicans as well, were anxiousto support a bill that provided a prescription drug benefit toseniors, not to drug companies.We would have voted for a bill that strengthens Medicare, notprivatizes it.We would have supported a bill that reduces costs to seniors insteadof guaranteeing rising stock prices for drug companies.At the end of the day - 6 a.m. on Saturday, to be precise - the Housepassed 678 pages of empty and broken promises to America's seniors.The Senate yesterday followed suit.Once those seniors begin digesting that bill, I have a feelingCongress will be required to stay up late voting to undo the damage.
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