sdWhy You Treat Me Like a Dog?: Bush Blew It, Again .comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}
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Monday, January 16, 2006
 
Bush Blew It, Again
Since Medicare Part D kicked in, I have noticed a marked increase in my elderly patients not being able to get their medications, or having to pay the full out of pocket expense. Apparently there has been concern from both sides of the aisle in Congress as well:

The concern was bipartisan. Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, said many people had been "turned away at their pharmacies or told that they must purchase the drugs up front and seek reimbursement later."
"These are very vulnerable people who do not have the means to pay for their prescriptions and who cannot go without their medications," Mr. Gregg said.

Particularly troubling have been the poorer patients who previously obtained their meds through Medicaid, and now are forced to come up with more funds to pay their copays (if they can get their medications at all).

It's nice to see bipartisan criticism of the Bush Administration for a change, and governors from both parties (including our own Govinator) have been signing emergency legislation into laws to help bridge the gap until Medicare and its contracted insurers gets their act together:

The new federal program is too complicated for many people to understand, and the implementation of the new program by the federal government has been awful," said Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a Republican.

And:

Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, a Republican who is chairman of the National Governors Association, declared a public health emergency.

Like with his initial response to Katrina, Bush has been pointing fingers at everyone but his own executive branch, which is supposed to execute the laws that he signs. Eventually, someone is undoubtedly going to be the scapegoat and have to resign, but only after being told they have been doing a "heck of a job." Great way to get that approval rating up!
- posted by wanderer @ 6:14 PM
Comments:
I'm so ambivalent about this. What am I to think if a program I oppose is executed badly?
# posted by Blogger Doctor Bean : 1/17/2006 6:34 AM
 
Good question. I think its quite a huge entitlement to come from a Republican president, and maybe that's why they didn't know how to do it right (though he doesn't do much else right).

He's probably ambivalent about it as well. I suspect the whole program is vote pandering at its worse. Trying to appease senior citizens.

Only problem is, he should have done it right. Instead, he's pissing off the seniors...and it all may backfire if he doesn't fix it.

Either way - this is BUCKS!!!
# posted by Blogger wanderer : 1/17/2006 11:43 AM
 
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