Drug plan’s deductions messed up

From Cleveland Plain Dealer: 

Judy Edinger enrolled in a Medicare drug plan from PacifiCare eight months ago, but she has already paid for 18 months. The Twinsburg resident had no choice, because monthly premiums were taken out of her checking account for 11 months and deducted from her Social Security check for seven.

A retired Cleveland salesman has the opposite problem with his Community Care Rx plan. He has paid no premiums since January -- not a dime has been deducted from his bank account or Social Security check -- but he still gets his medicine.

"I expect in a month or two a huge bill for the premiums, and I don't know what I will do," said the man, who asked that his name not be published.

Most seniors have limited, fixed incomes and rely on their Social Security checks for daily living expenses.

Smaller checks, or unexpected large payments, can wreak havoc on tight budgets.

Seniors have experienced a variety of billing problems when they switched plans, or when Social Security skips some months and then deducts several premiums from a single check.

In June, Reps. Sherrod Brown, the Avon Democrat, and Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the Cleveland Democrat, said constituents reported errors in premium deductions from their Social Security checks.

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09/08/2006 / Permalink / Medicare Part D, Seniors, (all tags)

Drug industry group helped pay for ads backing DeWine and others

From AP via Cleveland Plain Dealer: 

The pharmaceutical industry quietly footed the bill for at least part of a recent multimillion-dollar ad campaign praising lawmakers, including Sen. Mike DeWine of Ohio, who support the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to political officials.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims credit for the ads, although a spokesman refused repeatedly to say whether it had received any funds from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA.

Several campaign strategists not involved in the ad campaign said no legal issues were raised by the pharmaceutical industry's involvement.

Democrats seized on the disclosure, though, to renew their charge that the program amounts to a Republican-engi neered windfall for drug companies - and that those companies rewarded some lawmakers with the commercials. The commercials, airing in 10 states or congressional districts, generally say the local congressman or senator supports the drug program, and that hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries have saved money since its inception earlier this year.

Aides to Rep. Sherrod Brown, the Avon Democrat challenging DeWine for re-election, said it's logical that PhRMA would help DeWine and other lawmakers.

"Mike DeWine has received more than $300,000 from prescription drug companies in campaign contributions" over his congressional career, "and voted their interests in Congress," said Joanna Kuebler, Brown's communications director. "That PhRMA would reward him by paying for a campaign ad is no surprise."

Click here to read the full article. 

08/26/2006 / Permalink / 2006, Medicare Part D, (all tags)

Brown says drug plan not serving seniors well

From Toledo Blade: 

U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown (D., Avon) brought a familiar theme and a familiar sidekick to Toledo yesterday, and together, they picked on a familiar target: the federal prescription drug benefit.

Mr. Brown, who is challenging U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine (R., Cedarville) this fall, said the Medicare Part D plan was "written by the drug industry" and said it was "just not serving seniors as well as it should."

...Joining him were Moses Ham, a beneficiary who said he couldn't afford his medicine after he reached the "doughnut" threshhold, and Dr. Johnathon Ross, a Toledo physician who said the Medicare plan shows government leaders "seem more concerned about corporate profits than about the health of the American people."

Dr. Ross and Mr. Brown also denounced the plan in Toledo seven months ago, when they said sign-up was confusing seniors.

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08/09/2006 / Permalink / Medicare Part D, Northwest Ohio, Seniors, (all tags)

VIDEO: Youngstown Medicare Event

Fox-TV Youngstown covers Sherrod's Medicare event in Youngstown (8/6/06)

08/07/2006 / Permalink / Medicare Part D, Northeast Ohio, Seniors, Video, (all tags)

Rep. Brown, Sen. Stabenow Criticize Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Coverage Gap

From Henry J. Kaiser Foundation: 

Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a Democratic candidate for the Senate, and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) on Tuesday in a conference call requested a solution to the so-called "doughnut hole," or gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage, under which drug plans will cover most costs up to $2,250, but nothing between $2,250 and $5,100, the Dayton Daily News reports. The conference call was arranged by Americans United for Change. Brown said, "Most seniors didn't expect this to happen. It's a bit of a cruel hoax that they continue to pay the premium and get little to nothing for it but have to keep paying the premium for one month or two months or however long it takes to work their way through the doughnut hole." Brown added, "I think the public understands more and more that the government is not on their side" (Wehrman, Dayton Daily News, 8/3). Stabenow added that she believes the coverage gap will "be a driving force" among seniors in the November elections (Jaffe et al., Cleveland Plain Dealer, 8/2). Mike Dawson -- spokesperson for Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), Brown's opponent -- said that Congress included the gap because seniors otherwise would have had to pay more in upfront costs (Dayton Daily News, 8/3).

08/04/2006 / Permalink / Medicare Part D, Seniors, (all tags)

DeWine Spokesman Defends Hole in Rx Coverage for Seniors

Defends doughnut hole that is forcing seniors to pay $2,850 in out of pocket costs

AMHERST, OH - A spokesman for Senator Mike DeWine today defended the doughnut hole - or gap in prescription drug coverage - that is affecting seniors enrolled in the new Part D prescription drug programs. Seniors and people with disabilities have been shocked to find that after $2,250 in coverage, their prescription drug plans do not cover their drug payments for the next $2,850 in costs.

"Mike DeWine continues to support a prescription drug plan that leaves seniors without any coverage for $2,850 in costs," said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown. "DeWine supported the bill's $100 billion taxpayer-provided subsidy for the drug companies, but according to his spokesman a plan that actually covered seniors' drug costs would be too expensive."

In addition to providing subsidies to the drug industry, the bill actually prohibits Medicare from negotiating with the drug companies for lower prices. DeWine has accepted nearly $300,000 in contributions from the pharmaceutical industry.

Brown is touring the state to meet with Ohio seniors who have fallen into the doughnut hole. He met with seniors like Marilyn Rogers of Cincinnati, whose prescription drugs cost $800-900 a month out of pocket to treat her diabetes, hypertension, and fibromyalgia. According to Ms. Rogers, she didn't know her plan had a doughnut hole when she signed up for it and now cannot afford all of her prescription drugs. She is cutting back on her medication to make it through the doughnut hole.

Brown called for a plan to provide for a simple, affordable benefit within Medicare that allowed the agency to negotiate with the drug companies for lower prices.

Citation below:

DeWine's Spokesman Said, "Doughnut Hole" Was Needed, Claimed Most People Wouldn't Be In It. In August 2006 DeWine's spokesman said that the "doughnut hole" in Medicare was necessary. DeWine's spokesman Michael Dawson said, "If you want to hold down costs to the federal taxpayer you need it. Without that, costs would skyrocket and the bulk of the cost would be picked up by the taxpayers, and a lot of people aren't even going to make it there." [Elyria Chronicle Telegram, 8/2/06]

08/02/2006 / Permalink / Medicare Part D, Seniors, (all tags)

Brown: Prescription drug plan betrays seniors

From Elyria Chroncile-Telegram: 

Americans who signed up for a federal prescription drug plan that was supposed to cut their monthly medication costs, were betrayed by their government, according to U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown.

Brown, D-Avon, criticized the so-called "doughnut hole," a period when many who signed up for the plan have to pay for medication themselves, during a news conference Tuesday.

"Most seniors didn't expect this, didn't see this coming," Brown said.

Under the program, seniors began signing up in January for various insurance plans designed to make drugs more affordable. Medicare covers 75 percent of the cost for the first $2,250 worth of drugs.

Once that mark is hit, coverage stops, at least until the senior has spent a total of $5,100 and Medicare begins paying 95 percent.

It's the $2,850 gap when seniors get no help - the "doughnut hole" - that is the problem, Brown said.

Brown and his fellow critics argue that for low-income seniors that kind of money can be costly, forcing them to choose which medications to buy or even whether to eat or take their drugs.

"Some are actually paying more than they did before," said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who joined Brown for then conference call.

Click here to read the full article. 

08/02/2006 / Permalink / Medicare Part D, Seniors, (all tags)

Medicare drug plan may drive elections

From Cleveland Plain Dealer: 

The government helps millions of older and disabled Americans pay for their medicine - but whether Ohioans feel gratitude or anger about it may influence their vote on Election Day.

Sherrod Brown, the Democratic congressman from Avon, says many seniors feel betrayed by higher out-of-pocket expenses than they had expected under the new Medicare prescription drug program. A number of other congressional Democrats agree and say seniors could take it out on Republicans in November.

...Brown, who hopes to unseat DeWine in November, said in a Cleveland campaign stop with seniors earlier in the day that many are upset with the government plan, which is administered through private insurers. Brown voted against the drug benefit in the House, saying it was designed to help drug companies more than seniors.

"There's a lot of bait and switch in this program," Brown said.

"People are satisfied for a while, but then the drug plan drops the drug they need or they hit the 'doughnut hole.' "

That's when the plan and the member have spent $2,250 on drugs, and coverage stops. It resumes when the member alone spends a total of $3,600.

Click here to read the full article. 

08/02/2006 / Permalink / 2006, Medicare Part D, Seniors, (all tags)