Changes Possible To Drug Program After Monday Enrollment Deadline

WASHINGTON, D.C. — (AP) A pivotal Republican is joining the congressional drive to eliminate the financial penalty for people who missed Monday’s deadline for enrolling in the Medicare drug benefit, the latest sign of a growing rebellion against President Bush on the issue.

Connecticut Representative Nancy Johnson said she has talked to enough colleagues to believe such a proposal would pass, probably in the fall, and plans to introduce legislation to waive the penalty.

 “The bottom line is this is a democracy, and the Congress responds to the people and shapes the program so it’s good for them,” said Rep Johnson, who heads the House Ways and Means’ subcommittee on health.

 “I think it’s fair and reasonable to eliminate the penalty” for 2006, the Connecticut Republican told The Associated Press in an interview.

It is also significant that the Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee is not ruling out an effort to block the penalty. Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa said he will not consider changes to the prescription drug program, in place since January 1, until he goes over final enrollment figures.

 “If I told you on April 15 you didn’t have to file your income taxes until April 30, you wouldn’t do it,” he said.

With the endorsement by one of the program’s leading supporters, Rep Johnson joins the handful of GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate who have split publicly with the Bush’s administration’s position that the enrollment deadline and late penalty should remain.

The administration has made an exception for people who qualify for extra help because of their low income.

Under current law, people who wait until December to enroll would have $2.31 per month added to their monthly premium. That amount would rise annually to reflect the national average premium for that particular year.

Lieberman Weighs In

Just a few days before the deadline, Senator Joe Lieberman blasted the Bush Administration for punishing America’s seniors, and called for an extension of the enrollment deadline for the Medicare Part D prescription drug program. He and other senators dispatched yet another letter to President Bush last Monday urging him to extend the enrollment deadline to prevent low-income seniors and others from being unnecessarily penalized.

According to a study by Families USA, only about 23 percent of Connecticut’s low-income seniors had enrolled in the program.

“The Bush Administration’s refusal to extend the Medicare Part D deadline threatens to punish seniors who have not yet enrolled in the program by denying them necessary prescription drugs,” Lieberman said in a release. “As I heard from seniors in Connecticut on Monday [May 8], many are skeptical of the program and need a little more time to make informed choices about which plan is best for them.”

On May 15, Representative Christopher Shays announced he would support Johnson’s legislation.

 “The Medicare prescription drug benefit is a huge cost-saver for our seniors and I do not want people who listened to political criticism of the program to be penalized,” he said in a statement.

Rep Johnson said the drive to waive the penalty does not reflect concerns about a program criticized by Democrats as more beneficial to drug companies and insurers than to older people and the disabled.

 “What is true, is absolutely true, is that seniors are saving a lot of money,” she said. “It’s lifting burdens off the back of retirees to a degree never imagined.”

Democrats pledge to keep pressing to extend the deadline and waive the penalty for people who sign up after May 15. Representative Charles Rangel of New York says he hears nothing but complaints about the program from his constituents.

 “I really think it’s a cruel thing to penalize people for what has been admittedly a very complex procedure in order to get the drugs,” he said. “To put a penalty for the rest of their lives on our oldest citizens, I think, is just an improper and wrong thing to do.”

Around the country, thousands of volunteers are helping to enroll Medicare beneficiaries into the program. The administration’s latest estimate indicates that about six million beneficiaries remain without prescription drug coverage. Democrats contend the number is probably closer to nine million.

In Newtown, employees at the Social Services office handled about a dozen walk-ins Monday who were anxious to become qualified and register for the plan, according to Director Ann Piccini (see related story). According to Medicare information, the average participant will save about $1,100, though it is possible some people may not save at all based on their drug needs and the plan they select.

About three-quarters of older people enrolled in a drug plan through Medicare say they are satisfied with that coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health research organization.

The administration says there are about 43 million beneficiaries. About 37 million now have prescription drug coverage; most of them had coverage before January 1. The administration’s latest estimate reflects that about ten million people now have drug coverage who did not have it last year.

Roll-out Difficulties

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt acknowledges the first two weeks or three weeks after the January 1 start of the program were bumpy. Many poor beneficiaries had trouble shifting from Medicaid to Medicare. Most states had to step in to help people pay for their medicine.

“The measure of success isn’t what it was like the first two weeks. The measure of success is what’s it like today and what it will be like a year from now,” Mr Leavitt said during a stop in Philadelphia last Friday. “By every measure, this has been a successful implementation.”

Forty-six senators wrote Mr Leavitt last week asking him to extend the deadline through the end of the year and to waive the penalty. Three of the lawmakers were Republicans — Senators Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Susan Collins of Maine.

Mr Leavitt did act to help poor beneficiaries who qualify for extra financial aid with their medicine. But he said Friday he does not have the power to do that for all those on Medicare. Democratic leaders in congress, as well as some fellow Republican lawmakers, were vocal in their disappointment of their Connecticut colleague who opposed the May 15 deadline.

“Mrs Johnson always talks about listening to her constituents. But if she thinks waiving the penalty is all they’re asking for, she needs to have her hearing checked,” said Representative Pete Stark, D-California

“After months of ignoring the pressing needs of seniors, Republicans are running for political cover by claiming they want to waive the penalty they imposed,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California. “Waiving the penalty does not do enough.”

Mrs Johnson in turn took a swipe at Democrats, saying she believes the program has been quite successful, and enrollment might have been closer to 100 percent “if the Democrats had put the welfare of our seniors ahead of their own political ambition.”