|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Senior Citizen Politics
Medicare Drug Plan Doughnut Hole Becoming Election Issue in Florida
Race
 October 2, 2006 – With Congressional elections just
weeks away, the Medicare prescription drug program is emerging as an
issue, at least in some areas. The complaints so far are focused on the
infamous "doughnut hole," where coverage stops but monthly premiums do
not. Attention, so far, is focused on a congressional district in
Florida, where about 25 percent of the voters are senior citizens,
according to KaiserNet.org.
 Medicare Rx Drug Benefit is Election Issue
The
Washington Post
on Sunday examined a House race in Florida, where some voters have
raised concerns about the Medicare prescription drug benefit.
According to the Post, millions of Medicare
beneficiaries nationwide "are confronting an interruption in their drug
coverage" -- the so-called "doughnut hole" -- as the midterm elections
near, and the Florida 22nd district, which includes West Palm Beach and
Fort Lauderdale, has one of the highest concentrations of beneficiaries
in the nation.
| |
Related Stories |
|
| |
Boomers, Seniors Ready to Vote and High Drug Prices
an Issue says AARP Survey
Senior drug prices
climbing at 6.3% a year, generics basically flat
September 19, 2006 – A survey of senior citizens
and baby boomers (age 42 and over) has found 74 percent saying the price
of drugs will be a "voting issue" in the up-coming elections. It also
found 60 percent of those 60 and over saying they always vote. This
voter survey was released yesterday by AARP, as it also released the
latest survey of drug prices showing the most commonly used medications
for older adults rose an average of 6.3 percent in the 12 months ending
with June.
Read
more...
Don't Vote Campaign, Voter Information Site Launched
by AARP
 September 19, 2006 - As part of an ongoing voter
education campaign, AARP today unveiled its "Don't Vote" initiative,
which tells voters "Don't vote . . . until you know where the candidates
stand on the issues." The campaign has its own Website where voters can select their respective state
and receive information on state and national races, find their
district, and register to vote.
Read more...
Read more
on
Politics for Senior Citizens |
|
In the race, incumbent Rep.
E. Clay Shaw
(R-Fla.) faces Florida Sen.
Ron Klein
(D). Klein has not made the Medicare prescription drug benefit a major
focus of his campaign, but he has addressed the issue in one of his
television advertisements.
Klein said, "When folks show up at the pharmacy and
get hit with paying 100% of their drug costs, while continuing to pay
100% of their premiums, they become concerned."
Klein said his main objection to the Medicare
prescription drug benefit is that the federal government cannot directly
negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for discounts on medications.
However, Shaw said that the Medicare prescription
drug benefit is an improvement for beneficiaries. Shaw said, "It's like
the big lie. If you tell it enough, people begin to believe it. They are
trying to convince people it was a windfall for the drug companies. It's
not" (Asthana, Washington Post, 10/1).
NPR Coverage
The politics of the Medicare prescription drug
benefit are "tough to handicap" and "beginning to look like a tossup,"
although Democrats thought the high cost of the program and the
so-called "doughnut hole" coverage gap might work in their favor for the
November midterm elections, NPR's "Morning
Edition" reports (Allen, "Morning Edition," NPR, 9/28).
Some Democrats "who believe dissatisfaction with
the Medicare drug program could help their congressional candidates in
November" observed "National Doughnut Hole Day" on Sept. 22, a date when
Medicare drug benefit beneficiaries on average would statistically begin
to reach the coverage gap, according to NPR.
In Florida's 22nd Congressional District, where one
out of four potential voters is older than age 65 and many residents
vote Democratic or Independent, the nonpartisan Voters Coalition of Palm
Beach County has endorsed Ron Klein (D), "largely because of" the
Medicare prescription drug issue, according to Harold Ostrow, coalition
chair.
The coalition in previous elections endorsed Rep.
Clay Shaw (R-Fla.), who seeks re-election in November, NPR reports.
Drew Altman, president and CEO of the
Kaiser Family
Foundation, said,"The issue of prescription drugs may be a
critical personal worry and concern, but it's pretty far down the list
of voting issues on their mind when they go to vote." The NPR segment
also includes comments from Klein, Ostrow and Shaw ("Morning Edition,"
NPR, 9/28).
>> The complete segment is available
online
in RealPlayer.
Editorial
Republican lawmakers in the 109th Congress "have
been a major disappointment" with their failure to "reform the creaky
institutions of the welfare state," a Wall Street Journal editorial
states, adding, "Perhaps the most puzzling abdication was the GOP
failure to do anything at all on health care." The "window for saving
private health care from government encroachment is closing, and both
business and workers are feeling the pinch from rising costs," the
editorial states.
However, "Republicans failed to make health care
savings accounts more attractive, failed to let business associations
offer their own health plans and failed even to bring a vote" on a bill
(HR
2355), sponsored by Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), that would
allow U.S. residents to purchase health insurance in any state, the
editorial states (Wall Street Journal, 10/2).
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
