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January 2006
On January 1, 2006, Medicare started to provide private
prescription drug insurance policies to beneficiaries under Part
D, a complex system fraught with problems. While Medicare Part D
is beneficial to drug and health insurance companies, its problems
will affect up to 40 million older and disabled persons now and
will affect every American in the future. The Twin Cities Gray Panthers,
an intergenerational peace and justice organization, requests your
organization’s help in letting Congress know that Medicare
Part D prescription drug program is seriously flawed and needs to
be reformed.
There are a whole series of problems with Medicare
Part D and great confusion among the beneficiaries, in particular
those in low-income brackets. On the enclosed post card, Gray Panthers
has chosen to focus on the infamous “donut hole”. While
still required to pay premiums for their coverage, most people will
be forced to pay 100% of drug costs from the time they have spent
$2,251 until reaching expenses of $5,100. This gap is known as the
DONUT HOLE. It is obvious that the real big winners under this system
are the drug companies as represented by their lobbying organization,
PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Gray Panthers and their allies around the Country
are sending a post card, as pictured above to Congress to emphasize
the need for Medicare Part D reform. We also urge our allies to
use these cards to tell Congress that a single payer universal health
care system (H.R. 676) is a more fair, cost-effective solution to
meet all Americans’ health care needs. Sample messages for
the post cards follow.
Sample messages to write on “donut hole” cards:
- Congress needs to immediately eliminate the donut hole
in the Medicare prescription drug plan. The Kaiser Family
Foundation projects that nearly 7 million Medicare beneficiaries
will fall into the donut hole in 2006. Please support Part D reform
now.
- Congress needs to immediately lift restrictions on Medicare
from negotiating directly with the pharmaceutical companies to
secure a fair price for prescriptions. Direct negotiations
will maximize prescription drug savings and help close the donut
hole. Please support Part D reform now.
- Congress needs to immediately direct that Medicare Part
D insurance company profits be used to fill the donut hole.
Part D partially privatizes Medicare. Companies marketing drug
insurance policies approved by Medicare should have limits put
on profits they can make on these policies. Please support Part
D reform now.
- Congress needs to immediately eliminate the Medicare
Part D late enrollment penalty and extend the sign-up period.
A confusing array of drug insurance policies is being offered.
Medicare beneficiaries or their guardians need time to carefully
review available plans before May 15, 2006. Please support Part
D reform now.
- Congress needs to immediately prohibit prescription
drug plans from changing their benefits during the plan year.
Current law allows plans to change their formularies
and prices during the plan year, but prevents beneficiaries from
switching plans. Plans should be required to notify beneficiaries
within 30 days of any plan change and allow beneficiaries to change
plans without penalty. Please support Part D reform now.
- Support legislation (H.R. 676) creating a single payer
universal health care system. Our heath care system is
the most expensive in the world yet it is ranked 37th (after Costa
Rica) by the World Health Organization in overall performance.
The U.S. spends 24% of its health care dollars on administration
– twice that of countries which cover all their people.
A single payer system will provide effective solutions to Americans’
health care needs.
Send a post card to your member of Congress today! Contact Us for
more information.
Twin Cities Gray Panthers
3249 Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis. MN 55408
612-822-1011
E-mail: info@graypantherstwincities.org
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