Congressional Record Statement of Senator Russ Feingold
On Penalty-Free Enrollment Deadline for Medicare Part D
May 10, 2006
Mr. President, I wish to speak today about the Medicare Prescription
Drug Program. I opposed the final version of the legislation that created
the Part D drug benefit, the Medicare Modernization Act, because I believed
that it would not provide adequate relief for Medicare beneficiaries.
I was concerned about the structure of the program, and worried that
it would negatively affect Wisconsinites and other Americans who must
quickly and affordably access prescription drugs. I have been trying
to fix some of these problems since the program was enacted, but supporters
of the program have been unwilling to consider these reforms. Instead,
they have allowed these problems to remain, and the results, since the
benefit was implemented in January, have been disastrous.
I have heard from a number of Wisconsinites who found the prescription
drug plan enrollment process exceedingly confusing. Many people had
difficulty finding a plan that would cover their prescriptions, while
others could not get through to Medicare representatives to ask questions
about the enrollment process. There have been breakdowns in the entire
information process, and these failures by the insurance companies and
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have sometimes completely
blocked beneficiaries from accessing essential medications such as insulin,
anti-psychotics, and even immunosuppressants.
We can’t afford to wait any longer in improving the Part D program
so that it can better serve its beneficiaries. We need to minimize the
negative effects of Part D’s implementation problems and high
costs. As part of this effort, I strongly support S. 1841, Senator Bill
Nelson’s (D-FL) Medicare Informed Choice Act. This plan would
allow beneficiaries extra time to navigate this confusing system by
extending the enrollment period through the end of 2006. In addition,
it would allow a one-time penalty-free change of programs for beneficiaries
who have made a mistake in choosing their prescription drug plan.
Supporters of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit have touted it
as the vehicle that would supply affordable, easily accessible prescription
drugs for seniors. The program has so far fallen far short of that goal.
The outcry that I have heard from pharmacists, beneficiaries, and health
care providers over the past couple months makes clear that the implementation
of the program has been a disaster. This program has not provided either
affordable or easily accessed drugs to many Medicare beneficiaries.
Instead it has presented providers and beneficiaries with frustration,
confusion, expensive medications, and sometimes no medications at all.
It is unacceptable for individuals to go without life-saving medications,
yet this is what has been happening in Wisconsin and across the country
since this program commenced.
Since the beginning of January, I have received panicked phone calls
from people in my state saying that they were unable to receive drugs
that they had been routinely getting at their pharmacy every other month.
At the same time as I was hearing from people suffering from pain because
they did not receive their pain medications, I read press releases from
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid that expressed satisfaction with
the launch of the program, and boasted of the millions of participants
in the program. There may be millions participating in the program,
but too many of them cannot receive their drugs and too many pharmacists
are unable to comply with the complicated regulations in the program.
CMS should be focusing its efforts on addressing this emergency rather
than disseminating public relations messages.
I have written Secretary Leavitt and Dr. McClellan repeatedly to express
my concerns about Medicare Part D, including the approaching deadline.
I hope that the administration will soon realize that it cannot continue
to ignore these problems or hope they go away on their own, and that
significant changes in the program are needed to better serve beneficiaries.
I think it is time that CMS remember who this plan is supposed to serve:
the people, not the drug and insurance companies.
We cannot sustain a great nation if we do not care for our elderly,
sick, disabled, and home-bound. These are the people this drug plan
is supposed to be serving, but they have been dismally let down. Let
us make a simple change to the drug plan that will provide immense help
to this group—extend the May 15th deadline. I urge the Majority
Leader to bring up S. 1841 for a vote before the deadline passes.
I yield the floor.
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