Surprise News on Medicare Part D!
WASHINGTON, DC; JUNE 24th, 2009—UPDATED SUNDAY, JUNE 28th, 2009—Today President Barack Obama walked briskly into the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House as if speaking directly to tens of thousands of disabled Migraineurs when he offered surprise news on Medicare Part D. The President informed us that he spoke to the American Medical Association last week, in his address he urged the continued need for health care reform and what will be required to achieve it. One of the things he stressed was that “everyone in our health care community is going to have to come together and do their part.”
President Obama, with an almost joyful excitement in his demeanor went on to inform the American people our government has been hard at work over the weekend with what MAGNUM considers a real health care breakthrough! To that fact Congressman Baucus, Chairman finance committee on this issue, as well as members President Obama’s administration, have been in discussions with the pharmaceutical industry to find a way to bring down costs of prescription drugs for America's seniors, and as the President and his key health advisors often do, forget younger Social Security disabled Americans will also share this White House healthcare breakthrough.
President Obama’s statement went on to say; “And I'm pleased to report that over the weekend we reached an understanding that will help close the notorious "doughnut hole" in Medicare Part D. This is a significant breakthrough on the road to health care reform -- one that will make the difference in the lives of many older Americans.
Even if you are not over 62 years old you need to understand how important it is that President Obama close the notorious "doughnut hole" in Medicare Part D. You see all working Americans pay into two long term insurance polices already managed by our government.
Medicare Part D--D Is For "Doughnut Hole"
These are NOT taxes, not give always to a privileged group which is what many people think of when they hear of “entitlements”. Note; U.S. Citizens pay into two trust funds, they are not taxes, but rather you are paying for insurance policies--one is a long term Social Security benefit, and the other is Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Both are there to protect the working Americans in old age, and in young middle-age or the older person who becomes disabled after having worked for roughly a decade. Unfortunately there was a major oversight in both acts in their lack of prescription drug coverage. Recently it had gotten so bad that it would not be uncommon for a young disabled person or an elderly person’s medication cost to actually be more than their total Social Security checks! So during the last Administration President George W. Bush fixed this major burden to the elderly and the disabled American. But in order to get this first major extremely expensive health care benefit in years through Congress, President George W. Bush would have to give something up. What the Congress decided to keep was Medicare money! Which they kept in the form of a Congressional metaphoric pastry! But it allowed President Bush to get is health care improvement on the books, as they say it was a compromise. By late Spring the arrival of the "doughnut hole" showed the weakness of Medicare Part D.
Ironically, President Obama’s ‘people’ loved to quote the large amount of ‘wasteful’ spending President Bush did as a campaign point! When more than half of the Bush budget bust was spent on giving needed medication to the elderly and the disabled under the then ‘dreaded Medicare Part D’. To that fact, President Obama’s own numbers show the saving to the Medicare system over the next decade will be in the hundreds of billions of dollars due to preventive intervention.
So you see, we really all need to start working together, as we are not as far apart on many issues as people think. To that point listen to President Obama’s explain how he can improve on Part D, and that annoying "doughnut hole":
“I think many of you in the press are familiar with the issue. The "doughnut hole" refers to a gap in prescription drug coverage that makes it harder for millions of Medicare beneficiaries to pay for the medication they need. The way the program is structured, Medicare covers up to $2,700 in yearly prescription costs and then stops, and the coverage starts back up when the costs exceed $6,100. Which means between $2,700 and $6,100 folks are out of luck. And this gap in coverage has placing a crushing burden on many older Americans who live on fixed incomes and can't afford thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses.”
If two polar opposite leaders can agree on the need to help get medication to the elderly and disabled, and continuities to refine and improve it our leaders in Congress can certainly sit down and work together and improve our health care system without bankrupting the nation or destroying the best parts of what we have now.
President Obama explained in greater detail just how he expects to lift the burden of Medicare Part D’s “doughnut hole”. The President said; “So as part of the health care reform I expect Congress to enact this year, Medicare beneficiaries whose spending falls within this gap will now receive a discount on prescription drugs of at least 50 percent from the negotiated price their plan pays. It's a reform that will make prescription drugs more affordable for millions of seniors, and restore a measure of fairness to Medicare Part D. It's a reflection of the importance of this single step for America's seniors that it has earned the support of AARP, which has been fighting for years to address this anomaly in the system on behalf of older Americans. AARP is committed, as I am, to achieving health care reform by the end of this year. And I'm committed to continuing to work with AARP to ensure that any reforms we pursue are carried out in a way that protects America's seniors, who know as well as anyone what's wrong with our health care system and why it's badly in need of reform.”
“Our goal -- our imperative -- is to reduce the punishing inflation in health care costs while improving patient care. And to do that we're going to have to work together to root out waste and inefficiencies that may pad the bottom line of the insurance industry, but add nothing to the health of our nation. To that end, the pharmaceutical industry has committed to reduce its draw on the health care system by $80 billion over the next 10 years as part of overall health care reform.”
“Real health care reform that reduces the spiraling costs of health services and extends quality, affordable health coverage to all Americans will require these kinds of commitments throughout the system. And drug and insurance companies stand to benefit when tens of millions more Americans have coverage. So we're asking them, in exchange, to make essential concessions to reform the system and help reduce costs. It's only fair. Today marks a major step forward. But it will only be meaningful if we complete the journey.”
MAGNUM hopes as this is the beginning of what appears to be some positive movement on what has otherwise been a deadlocked issue, the key issue of major health care reform. We have seen the American people split on so many issues over the last two years that you would think the nation is developing bipolar disorder!
But after all change IS good, during the live White House speech a week ago tomorrow President Obama repeatedly referred to his new objective as ‘Medicare Part B’. He wanted Congress to swiftly close the vaunted “doughnut hole” associated with ‘Medicare Part B’. Having said that, as of Sunday we have not heard one evening entertainment host such as Jay Leno or David Letterman make wise cracks all week long how President Obama did know his B’s form D’s? Nor did we hear any jokes from Comedy Central when Mr. Obama lectured us about how ‘Americans invented the car’, and Henry Ford invented the assembly line. Sadly of course, Germany invented the automobile, and Smith & Wesson several decades earlier created the first industrial assembly line, but HEY--at least they where an American company. If President Bush, the Younger, would have made these minor slips-ups for a busy leader the sad jokes would be coming off the David Letterman assembly line non-stop! We don’t like it when our Presidents are mocked for sport—it serves no purpose be it Obama or Bush. Not to mention it impedes the critical work ahead of us to improve health care so all Americans will have access to reasonably equal quality of care.
Armed with a life-affirming sense of humor, when all is said and done in good taste and not in the mean-spirited way most of us are so tired of, humor will fit into President Obama’s Health Care Plan, as we all know a good sense of humor is great medicine!
Maybe we have come to a turning point as all sides agree that Medicare Part D was not only a great improvement to the national health care system after decades of inactivity, President Obama saw fit to buttress it within his first 200 days and improve an already vast improvement for millions of elderly and disabled Americans. Now that is change we can ALL believe in.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Social Security Act of 1935-
“An act to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits, and by enabling the several States to make more adequate provision for aged persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare, public health, and the administration of their unemployment compensation laws; to establish a Social Security Board; to raise revenue; and for other purposes.”
Technical Note:
Our internet service provider has been having technical problems requiring no less than six service calls over the last two weeks. This has bottlenecked MAGNUM from posting articles over the past two weeks. MAGNUM is truly sorry for any inconvenience or MigraineBlog withdraw during this time period.
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