More Congressional Shenanigans -- The Medicare Prescription Drug Program
The Republican Medicare Prescription Drug Program is a disaster. Seniors are much worse off then they were before passage of the bill. Some 20 states have had to jump in to help them until the federal government gets its house in order. This is just another example of Republican-led corruption, providing big benefits for drug companies at the expense of the poor and elderly.
Take Estella Easterly, 84, for example. After five years of getting her prescriptions filled for no charge at her local pharmacy in Maple Valley (Washington), she says she recently was told she had to pay full price -- or go without. She couldn't prove that she had enrolled in one of Medicare's new Part D drug plans. Her insurance company hadn't sent her a membership card yet, and it set up her eligibility information improperly in the computer system. So Easterly -- who lives on about $600 a month -- paid what she could: $24 for a half-month's worth of one of her medications. "I'm not one that cries very easily," said Easterly, a widow who used to get her drugs paid for by the government because of her low income. "If I can't get it straightened out, I'll just have to do without my medicines. I just can't afford that every month."
The Republican Congress was only able to pass the bill by breaking its own rules and holding the voting open until late into the night so enough congressional arms could be twisted to pass the bill. Rep. W.J."Billy" Tauzin (R-La.) was chairman of the powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which shared jurisdiction over medicare and oversees the drug industry as well as the telecommunications, media and entertainment industries. Tauzin helped write and promote the controversial Medicare prescription drug benefit for the elderly, and then stepped down from his Congressional post to become the new chief of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
[Source: Seattle Times]