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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: LindyBill who wrote (148758)11/26/2005 11:32:38 AM
From: skinowski  Read Replies (2) of 793939
 
That line of attack is insulting to the nation's 42 million Medicare beneficiaries, who aren't hapless or senile

I disagree. The drug plan is not easy to understand, especially if one tries to combine it with some of the benefits offered by Medicare HMO's.

the new benefit will be a poor substitute for the drug coverage that some three-quarters of seniors already have, and which it will undoubtedly do much to replace

This is true. The plan, it seems, will put some of the current drug benefit payors out of business, and will prove to be a bonanza to others. Medicare HMO plans used to pay for drugs out of their regular funding -- now, they will get additional moneys from Uncle Sam.

seniors are nonplussed by the "donut hole" they see in the new coverage.... ...To some degree, the private providers are even saving Congress from itself by filling in the dreaded donut hole... ...A whopping 58% of plans eschew the suggested $250 deductible

I see that "donut hole" being closed by Medicare HMO plans. Maybe that was the design - to get HMO's to contribute.

Generally, I think that Medicare Part "D" - the drug coverage plan - could have been designed to have a much lower price tag.

the standalone entitlement has become a prop for the increasingly decrepit fee-for-service Medicare system

That's very true. The traditional fee-for-service Medicare is finished, we just don't recognize that yet. The "Relative Value Scale" fee system is based on data from the 1970's and early 80's, and does not reflect what it costs to run a Medical practice these days.
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