- Home :
- About ICAN :
- Join Us :
- Job Openings :
- Contact :
Press Release
Extend the May 15 Deadline to Sign Up For Prescription Drug Benefit
Seniors call on Grassley, Harkin to extend deadline
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Date: April 20, 2006
For more information, contact:
Charlie Wishman, 515-277-5077 (ext 15)
Cell: 641-425-1298
DES MOINES, IA - Seniors joined with Iowa Citizen Action Network today to call on Senators Harkin and Grassley to extend the looming May 15th deadline to sign up for Medicare Part D. Those who haven’t signed up for the program by May 15 face a penalty every month for the rest of their lives, despite the many challenges that seniors have faced in enrolling.
“With the May 15th deadline looming, many seniors haven’t signed up for the prescription drug program, and will face a penalty. With all of the confusion and complications that have plagued the program since its start, extending the deadline is the only step that makes sense,” said Charlie Wishman, organizer for Iowa Citizen Action Network. “Senators Harkin and Grassley can stop this penalty from affecting Iowa seniors and those with disabilities by supporting S.1841, currently before the US Senate, which will extend the May 15th deadline.”
Dennis Trollope, a retired Insurance Loss Control Representative, says “Not every senior has the same kind of knowledge and experience that I do. Most seniors aren’t licensed insurance agents. While some seniors may be lucky enough to have family help them through this process, many do not. Others do not know what help is available to help them sign up, or who exactly to trust to help them make that decision.”
Wishman went on to say, “Extending the deadline is by no means a total fix to the many problems of Medicare Part D. It will, however, stop seniors from being penalized for the confusion in the program they have faced so far, and will also give Congress time to address these issues and make much needed changes to the program.”
A real fix for Medicare Part D will:
- • Medicare negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices;
- • Offer Medicare beneficiaries a plan under traditional Medicare that does not require them to join private plans;
- • Eliminate the “donut hole” where beneficiaries continue to pay premiums but get no benefits;
- • End “bait and switch” where companies can change the drugs it covers, but seniors are locked into plans.
# # #
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
