Lott wants to scrap phony drug benefit

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Trent Lott actually does something right:

*Scrap the phony drug benefit that isn't
*drop some tax cuts, but not those that benefit familes with children
*"One speech is not going to fix this,"

Lott: Scrap Medicare drugs, pay for storm

WASHINGTON — Congress could help pay for rebuilding efforts in Mississippi and other areas hit by Hurricane Katrina if it halted the $700 billion Medicare prescription drug program, former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said Tuesday...

Lott said lawmakers should reconsider extending some tax cuts because they would reduce federal revenues. However, he said Congress should extend expiring tax cuts that benefit families with children. He did not offer examples of those taxes....

The president's speech to the nation last Thursday "was a good start," Lott said. "One speech is not going to fix this," he said. "I don't mean that as a criticism. This is hard. It's going to be expensive and it's going to be long."


http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050921/NEWS0110/509210365/1260


This prescription drug plan is the first step in destroying Medicare as we know it. In the long run, it doesn’t benefit seniors at all; it does just the opposite: It undercuts the basic value of Medicare.

There's no cost-containment at all. Pharmaceuticals on the stock market went up right away because the only people who'll benefit from this plan are the drug companies. That's who paid for the ads we've seen in support of this plan
http://www.house.gov/murtha/health/rx-reax.htm


Please look at how the "prescription benefit" rolls out in real life, I know because I investigated it thoroughly:

There is a deductible and a monthly premium. The mo premium is $35.

I wrote Congressman Richard Burr to ask him what my Mother's monthly out of pockets would be with the 2006 benefit, based on her medicines costing $600.00 a month, every month. It took his office 6 weeks to figure it out.

With a monthly cost of medicines of $600.00:

Figures include the $35 monthly premium for "prescription insurance"

Month Amount$ that patients out of pocket will be:

Jan $355
Feb $155
Mar $155
April $470
May $635
Jun $635
July $635
Aug $635
Sept $135
Oct $35
Nov $35
Dec $35

That patient will probably die or be hospitalized in the month of April. Then, when they die, the republicans can spend that person's social security check on another war/Halliburton.

I am not a Trent Lott fan, but if you read up on this, the prescription "benefit" hurts seniors by spending lots of money on a program without helping the seniors. The money is going straight to the drug companies pockets. You can bet there is no donut hole in the benefit to the drug company/aka campaign donors.

[gratuitous]

1. Oh no! More hard work

Yes Trent, it IS hard to spend billions more Treasury dollars when the coffers are empty. Don't do anything reckless, though, like ask the overrich to pitch in and shoulder their fair share of the burden.

Prick.

[asjr]

2. I never thought I would agree with Lott on

anything, but this prescription drug "benefit" is a farce. I am a senior living on SS and this program will only make my drug bills higher.

[Moderator]

3. Duplicate and subject line

Exact duplicate of this
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1795648

Subject line does not match article title.