Drug Plan For Seniors In "Doughnut Hole" A Disgrace

[RestoreGore]

How many of our Seniors will have to DIE before we see what we are doing to them? THIS is what Democrats should be talking about today. This is disgraceful.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 1, 2006
11:00 AM


Drug Plan Coverage for Seniors in "Doughnut Hole" Will be Scarcer and Less Affordable in 2007

In 13 States, No Drug Plan Will Provide “Doughnut Hole” Coverage in 2007 for the Top Medicines Prescribed to Seniors—up from Four States in 2006
Premiums to Increase by at least 87.4 Percent Next Year for Drug Plans Offering “Doughnut Hole” Coverage for the Top Medicines


WASHINGTON - November 1 - In 13 states next year, there will be no drug plans that offer coverage in the so-called “doughnut hole,” the big drug coverage gap in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, for the top medicines prescribed to seniors, according to a new report issued today. In 2006, there were only four such states, but the number of seniors without access to such doughnut hole coverage will increase from 375,000 to 6.6 million in 2007—an 18-fold increase.

In the 37 states and the District of Columbia in which plans will continue to offer such doughnut hole coverage, premiums for the lowest-priced Part D plans will increase by 87.4 percent, jumping from a median monthly price of $55.08 in 2006 to $103.20 in 2007 (an increase in annual premiums from $660.96 to $1,238.40).

The report, issued by the health consumer watchdog organization Families USA, contradicts the Bush Administration’s claims that in 2007 “there will be more plans with coverage in the gap.” According to the report, the four states (Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, and New Hampshire) that did not have plans with meaningful doughnut hole coverage in 2006 will be joined by nine additional states (Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin) in 2007.

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Beyond the premium hikes in those seven states, seniors will face steep premium increases in the following states: New Jersey (179.8 percent), Missouri (111.8 percent), Delaware (95.2 percent), the District of Columbia (95.2 percent), Maryland (95.2 percent), Kansas (88.7 percent), Alabama (84.3 percent), and Tennessee (84.3 percent).


For a copy of the report and to review the methodology, please visit our Web site at

http://www.familiesusa.org

[Nite Owl]

1. Compassionate conservatism

compassion for big pharma and insurance companies. The elderly should just die sooner.

[Trillo]

2. Work your whole life, then get this at the end.

Why do I believe that CEOs of the biggest corporations won't need to worry about their senior-years' health-care bills?

Republican control of congress sure seem to have made life worse for so many, but for their friends at the top of big business it seems a different story.

[Nite Owl]

3. Not only themselves either

the fortunes they have amassed should protect their families for generations maintaining their elite status in society. This is a bad development for any country, it sets up a class society.