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To: RealMuLan who wrote (46453)	2/14/2006 3:59:31 PM
From: Jim McMannis	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116555

RE":Big trouble ahead for Medicare" Why didn't anyone see this before? <G>

To: RealMuLan who wrote (46453)	2/14/2006 4:13:31 PM
From: Les H	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116555

Medicare Drug Plan Benefits Industry at Seniors' Expense newstandardnews.net According to a January report by the progressive think tank Center for Economic Policy Research, the program’s cost to state and federal taxpayers – estimated at $776 billion for the next eight years – and its notorious complexity are predictable symptoms of the legislation. "Congress deliberately designed the bill in a way that would ensure that private insurance companies would provide the benefit instead of the Medicare administration or a single designated provider," wrote the report’s author, Dean Baker. "This design both substantially increased the cost of drugs and administrative costs in addition to making the drug program much more complicated for beneficiaries," the report states. A large portion of the 14.3 million enrollees in the program are people who qualify for Medicare and Medicaid. These 6.2 million seniors and people with disabilities used to receive prescription-drug coverage through Medicaid, but were automatically switched to the Medicare drug benefit when it went into effect. Look Who's Back With Health Care Reform buffalonews.com