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Press Release
Seniors Protest Part D Prescription Drug Benefit
Frustration and Confusion Exposed at State House Rally
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Date: March 30, 2006
For more information, contact:
Matt Russell, 515-277-5077 (ext 15)
DES MOINES, IA - Seniors and people with disabilities joined Iowa Citizen Action Network to call for fixing the Prescription Part D Drug benefit. Today’s rally focused on the confusion and frustration experienced by Iowans trying to navigate and sign up for the privatized benefit associated but not administered through Medicare. Efforts in Iowa are in collaboration with a national campaign organized by Americans United. Day of Confusion events are happening across the country over the next week.
“This law has failed to meet the needs and expectations of seniors, the disabled and all of us who expect our government to invest our taxes in efficient and effective programs,” said Matt Russell, organizer for Iowa Citizen Action Network. “Part D is costly, confusing and corrupt and it must be replaced with a plan that is simple, affordable and guaranteed.”
Russell went on to say, “Despite protests from supporters of this law– despite some of the press coverage – the confusion associated with Part D is NOT IN ANY WAY related to the bugs which are to be expected with the launch of a large new national program. The confusion being experienced by seniors and the disabled is a direct result of the contortions President Bush and his allies put the bill through to line the pockets of drug and insurance companies at the expense of our nation’s seniors and the disabled. The confusion is endemic to the legislation and the corrupt nature in which it was written.”
Part D is confusing because:
- Instead of offering a simple and direct drug benefit from Medicare, it comes with more than 500 plans nationally which are a potential windfall to HMO’s and insurance companies. In Iowa alone there are 42 plans offered by 18 companies.
- These plans come with widely different premiums, co-pays, deductibles and formularies.
- People have been inundated with direct mail appeals, telemarketing calls and racks and racks of brochures at their local drug stores.
- Even after someone has sifted through all of the confusion to sign up for a plan – insurance companies can drop from coverage the drugs they need while beneficiaries are forced to remain in the same plan and continue to pay premiums.
- There is a donut hole gap in coverage of nearly $2,800 that varies depending on the plan you choose.
Russell concluded, “All seniors ever wanted was to present their Medicare card at the pharmacy and to get their drugs at an affordable price. What they got instead was a costly, confusing and corrupt plan with different formularies, different premiums and different co-pays and no guarantee that their drugs will even be covered. This plan is confusing not because it is new and the bugs are being worked out – it is confusing because it was written to benefit corporate America – not seniors.”
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Guidling Principles of Health Care Reform
Iowa Human Needs Advocates is a working group of over 30 organizations that advocate in the human services arena. ICAN and IHNA have drafted guiding principles for health care reform in Iowa.
EVENT
RESOURCES
People or Profits: The Game Show
Iowa Human Needs Advocates is a working group of over 30 organizations that advocate in the human services arena. ICAN and IHNA have drafted guiding principles for health care reform in Iowa.
Learn more and take action here, a web site for consumers who want to join the fight for fair prescription drugs prices.
STATEMENT
ICAN organizer Matt Russell addresses committee members regarding the need for prescription drug price relief in Iowa. Read his statement here.
REPORTS
The Excess Cost of the Bush Prescription Drug Plan in Iowa
Learn about how Medicare Part D wastes Iowa taxpayer money and how we can fix this disasterous plan.
Health Care in Iowa: A Continuing Problem of Access
Iowa Policy Project has released this new report on health care access. One in 11 Iowans falls through the cracks of health-care coverage in Iowa, lacking access to health insurance through an employer or through government services – and despite some recent gains, the percentage of Iowans who are uninsured has not improved from the start of the decade.
Medicaid at 40: A Service That Works, For Americans Who Need It
IOWANS FACE RISING DRUG COST BURDEN: Iowa among the states most affected by rising prescription drug costs. Read entire report here.
MEDICARE CAMPAIGN
How will the Bush Medicare Prescription Drug Law affect your budget in 2006? Click here for a month-by-month cost analysis.
To see Important Facts You Need to Know About the Bush Medicare Prescription Law of 2003, click here.
For a fact sheet about The Medicare Prescription Discount Drug Card, click here.
To see how the discount card costs compares unfavorably to VA, Canada, and drugstore.com, click here.
Medicare Worksheet - to estimate what you will have to pay in 2006 for prescription drugs, download and print this worksheet.
NEWS FROM THE ROAD
Medicare Road Show Picks Up Steam in the Midwest, April 13, 2004: Des Moines, Iowa.
PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT Q & A
The new Medicare law is extremely complicated and extremely politicized. Click here for a question and answer resource from FamiliesUSA that can help you better understand the effects of this law.
HEALTH CARE PRINCIPLES
These principles are the cornerstone of a quality health care system. Any health care proposal must bring us closer to meeting them.
JOINT STATEMENTS
A coalition of groups demands that Senator Grassley protect Medicaid funding. Read the letter here.
Joint statement on the effects of the Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act of 2003
REPORT
Congress’ Prescription Deal Costs Iowans More and Undermines the Entire Medicare System. Released 11/18/03 by ICAN and the Institute for America's Future. Click here.
FACT SHEETS
The Medicare Part D Disaster: Extend the May 15 Deadline
State Rx for 2005: House File 152
Our Fight for Fair Prescription Drug Prices
Capping Medicaid Funding: How Block Grants Would Hurt States -- Families USA, December 2004
Comparing the Medicare prescription drug proposals: Senate, House, and Conference
Iowa State Prescription Fact Sheet
IN THE NEWS
3/25/06, Des Moines Register: Drug-benefit cost: A whopper
3/22/06, Radio Iowa: Group seeks changes in Medicare prescription drug benefit
09/27/05, Quad City Times: Putting a face on budget plight
09/20/05, Des Moines Register: Hearings planned on cuts to social programs
08/13/05, Quad City Times: Letter to the editor -- Health care coverage still a major concern
08/10/05, Des Moines Register: Editorial -- Everyone deserves health-care coverage
08/04/05, Newsradio 1040 WHO: Medicaid Turns 40
07/16/05, Vilsack touts Medicaid effort as national model to fellow governors
PRESS RELEASES
04/20/06 - Extend the May 15 Deadline to Sign Up for Prescription Drug Benefit
