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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Selectric II who wrote (7315)	5/12/2004 12:14:51 PM
From: Orcastraiter	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 90947

Did AARP support the prescription drug plan before or after it was revealed that the cost of the plan was likely to double from the advertised cost? Or could it be that AARP was favoring the plan because of the money they were going to make by selling co-insurance? The Medicare bill narrowly passed the Senate and House. And this was before the problems of the budget for the program was released by the White House and the operational problems that have arisen. Many seniors do not understand the program...all they understand is that they cannot afford their drugs. Even AARP is realizing that the bill falls short on many counts: "It's a bad law, will cause mass confusion among seniors and in the long run, it's not going to benefit them," said Semanthie Brooks, director of community advocacy for Benjamin Rose, a nonprofit social service and research group. The Medicare reform bill, which includes the new drug plan, narrowly passed the House of Representatives by only five votes and the Senate by 10 votes. Whether there is enough support for any amendments, let alone repealing the law, remains to be seen. Brown wasn't optimistic about the prospects for revising the Medicare law. "The people in charge in Washington will not change the bill," he said. "Only the voters can." AARP is using a different strategy by pushing for separate legislation to allow reimportation of drugs from Canada and to have the health and human services secretary negotiate drug prices on behalf of Medicare if private insurers fail to bring down the cost. Congressional support for importation continues to grow, but it's not clear whether the president would sign it, said AARP spokesman Steven Hahn in Washington, D.C. cleveland.com Orca