At the District of Columbia‘s Shiloh Baptist Church, Mrs. Bush met volunteers and some last-minute enrollees. She told people with little need for medicine now to still consider signing up for a private insurance plan, warning, “As you age, it’s likely you’ll add medications to your health care.” “We’ve seen a real surge,” McClellan said. [...]
If you’ve been on the fence about Medicare‘s prescription drug plans, now is the time to jump. Those who don’t sign up for the new Medicare prescription drug plans by May 15 will have to wait until November, said Latrice Reed of Three Rivers Area Agency on Aging, who for most of the year has [...]
Strategists in both parties agree the new prescription-drug benefit in Medicare is going to be an important campaign issue. Neither side seems entirely certain, though, whether seniors will be grateful for the help in buying medicine or angry about complications in signing up and getting prescriptions. A USA TODAY poll shows the crosscurrents: Most of [...]
Time’s almost up. The May 15 deadline for signing up for a Medicare prescription drug plan is looming. If you qualify for Medicare and ignore this special one-time deadline, Uncle Sam plans to slap you with a penalty. So if you have hesitated because you are confused, get help and take action. If you are [...]
“Because of inaccurate or incomprehensible information, seniors haven’t been given a fair shake,” said Michigan Rep. John Dingell, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee. “Seniors can’t make good choices if they can’t get good information. And these problems confirm that this privatized prescription drug plan is inherently too complicated.” Read more on [...]
I think they’re afraid,� said Donna Damiani, who heads the county’s Medicare counseling program. “They’re afraid they are going to sign up for the wrong thing. They thought they’d hear about an [enrollment] extension.� Then there are people like Wrightstown resident Mary Jones, who is still unclear if her 81-yearold mother needs to sign up [...]
With the first enrollment deadline a week away, the Medicare prescription benefit apparently is achieving its primary objective: helping millions of Americans obtain protection they did not have previously against one of the most draining problems of growing older. By the May 15 deadline, federal officials expect to have more than 20 million seniors or [...]
“I tell everyone they’ve got to sign up,” said Washburn, a retired nurse. “You’d be a fool not to. Even if you don’t take any meds today, sign up for a $15 a month plan because you don’t know down the road what you might need.” Read more on this topic.
“I’d hate to have to choose and pay for something I’m not using,” said MacSorley, as she awaited clients at a recent senior help day at the Area Agency on Aging 1B in Southfield. “And a lot of people I know aren’t choosing.” “This whole plan is screwy,” said Nancy Haapaniemi of Farmington, 82, as [...]
“Because of inaccurate or incomprehensible information, seniors haven’t been given a fair shake,” said Michigan Rep. John D. Dingell, the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “Seniors can’t make good choices if they can’t get good information. And these problems confirm that this privatized prescription drug plan is inherently too complicated.” Read [...]
“There is no crisis,” Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, the senior Democrat on the House health subcommittee, said in response to the report. “Much as President Bush manipulated intelligence to justify an unnecessary war in Iraq, his administration is using these projections to rationalize dismantling Medicare.” “This report is another wake-up call that Medicare and Social [...]