Yippee

We're saved! AP (11.12.05):

"President Bush encouraged older and disabled Americans on Saturday to enroll in the prescription drug benefit that will soon be offered through Medicare. 'This new benefit is the greatest advance in health care for seniors and Americans with disabilities since the creation of Medicare 40 years ago,' Bush said in his weekly radio address." Bush Touts New Prescription Drug Benefit

Well, sort of. Knight-Ridder (11.10.05):

"With less than a week to go before the signup begins, Medicare's new drug benefit is proving to be a prescription for confusion. With a multitude of plans to pick from, delays in rolling out Medicare's computer tool to help compare them and the general complexity of the benefit, many of those eligible are wondering if it's worth the trouble." Deciding between Medicare drug plans has become a complex task

"Most of the 43 million elderly people and those with disabilities who qualify must select from about 40 plans, making sense of an array of premiums, formularies, co-payments, coverage gaps, deductibles and pharmacy networks." "Barbara Potter, who's disabled and now gets Medicare benefits, said she'd had trouble getting information about the 46 Medicare drug plans available in her area." "'I've been a government contractor for years, so I'm used to bureaucracy, but this is just ridiculous,' said Potter, a retired freelance health writer in Hornell, N.Y. 'I am finding this the most labyrinthine experience I've ever had with government.'" Labyrinthine? Man, is that a top shelf word, or what? "Medicare officials hope to sign up 28 million to 30 million people during a general enrollment period" running from November 15 to May 15, 2005. Coverage begins January 1, 2006. But even though no one is really clear about what to do, at least it's going to be really expensive. From John and Jane Q. Public, NYTimes (11.13.05): "'I have a Ph.D., and it's too complicated to suit me,' said William Q. Beard, 73, a retired chemist in Wichita...." "'The whole thing is hopelessly complicated,' said Pauline H. Olney, 74, a retired nurse who attended a seminar at a hotel in Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco." "Gene D. Peterson, 71, who attended the session at First United Methodist [in Wichita], said: 'The government asks us to sign up for a plan, but we have to figure out which drugs are covered by which of the 40 plans. For the average person, that's almost impossible. It's much too complicated.'" Paulette Dibbern, a retired State Farm insurance agent in Wichita: "'Federal officials seem to go on the philosophy, 'Why keep it simple when you can gum up the works?', she said." "Mendell F. Butler, 76, a longtime member of First United Methodist, said he wished people could pay $20 a month for a simple Medicare drug plan, 'without searching out all these different companies you've got to buy it from.'" Oh Mr. Butler! Simplicity is not the point! Brian D. Caswell, former president of the Kansas Pharmacists Association, spends "two to three hours a day explaining the Medicare drug benefit to customers at his store". He says "'(t)he program is so poorly designed and is creating so much confusion that it's having a negative effect on most beneficiaries.'" "Robert W. Nyquist, a pharmacist in Lindsborg, Kan., said customers had told him: 'This is just beyond me. I can't decipher which drug plan is cheapest.'" "Suzi Lenker, who coordinates insurance counseling for the Kansas Department on Aging, said that 'some people were in tears' at a recent session she held for 140 Medicare beneficiaries in McPherson." "After a two-hour class at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, [74-year old Irwin] Samet used a Yiddish word to describe his state of mind. 'Farmisht,' he said. 'Mixed up. All of us here are mixed up.'" "Raymond L. Middlesworth, 70, a retired truck driver from Urbana, said he was baffled. 'I've tried reading the Medicare book about the drug plan,' Mr. Middlesworth said, 'but I couldn't make sense of it. This is the biggest mess that Medicare has ever put us through.'" Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services: "'Health care is complicated. We acknowledge that. Lots of things in life are complicated: filling out a tax return, registering your car, getting cable television. It is going to take time for seniors to become comfortable with the drug benefit.'" Getting cable TV is complicated? Who's he kidding?