| | Statement of Linda Fullerton, Social Security Disability
Coalition, Rochester, New York
Members of the Committee:
My name is Linda Fullerton
and I am a disabled American on Medicare Part D myself, and
President/Co-Founder of the Social Security Disability Coalition, which is made
up of thousands of Social Security Disability claimants and recipients from all
over the nation.
I find it disturbing that at
this latest hearing on the “Implementation of the Medicare Drug Benefit”, that
glaringly absent from your panel was representation from organizations such as
AFGE/National Council of SSA Field Operations Locals, who to date have helped
process nearly 4 million subsidy applications for Medicare Part D, the Medicare
Rights Center, AARP and disability organizations such as mine. We are all
heavily involved with the implementation of the new Part D program, and
continually hear the horror stories of what needs to be done to improve it. A
majority of our members are actually enrolled in the program ourselves. Who
better to give feedback at these hearings than those who are directly affected
by its flaws! I ask that in future hearings more concerted effort be utilized
to include a better represented cross section of the American population. It
seems to me that if this is not done, that you are not getting a total
reflection of the population affected, and are making decisions on inaccurate
information which can be very detrimental to those whom you have been elected
to serve.
I am also disturbed by the
fact that the majority of the time that the Medicare Part D program is
mentioned, that the disability population which also relies heavily on this
program, is rarely referred to. It is mostly promoted as a “retirement”
benefit. Currently disabled Americans are forced to wait 2 years to be covered
under Medicare A, B, or D. That needs to change. My organization agrees
totally with the Medicare Rights Center, that coverage under all parts of
Medicare must start immediately for them, upon disability date of eligibility.
I personally endured financial devastation during that waiting period, that
along with my enormous wait/struggle to get SSD benefits, I will never been
able to recover from, since I am permanently disabled and can no longer work.
HMO’s are forcing their
subscribers to use their Part D plans or lose Medicare health insurance
coverage in their HMO plan. Since I am enrolled in a Medicare health insurance
plan with an HMO, I was not allowed to “shop” for the best Medicare Part D plan
to suit my needs, which was promoted as a sign up “incentive”, or I would have
lost my health insurance with that plan. This practice should be made illegal
as it restricts a patient’s ability to shop for the best Medicare Part D for
their personal pharmaceutical needs. While this may have made enrollment in
Medicare Part D an easy process, this was an obvious “sell out” to the HMO’s.
Many are even paying more for their drugs than they were before Part D took
effect when co-pays and premiums are factored in. Under my HMO Part D plan, I
pay more now for each drug I need, than on my previous HMO provided drug plan
before Part D took effect. My monthly HMO premium doubled, and I still have
additional co-pays for each drug, with less choices. I recently got major
sticker shock when I went to my pharmacy. I was told that one drug I was just
prescribed would cost me over $100 since it was not on my drug plan’s formulary.
I was instantly forced to make a decision that I never had to before. Do I not
eat for 2 weeks, go without health insurance for two months, or do without two
other medications I need for a year? Since I am on Social Security Disability,
my only choice was to do without the $100 medicine and walk out. HMO’s are
getting huge drug contracts under the current plan but not passing on the
savings to consumers. My additional Part D cost is not even in line with the
average $25 per month premium, that was suggested by the President when he
visited my area this Spring to promote sign up for the new Part D plan.
The Part D plan should be
revised to allow Medicare beneficiaries to enroll in a SINGLE drug plan
provided directly by Medicare so that premiums, deductibles, and co-payments,
would be the same for everyone. This drug plan would be the same as the one
currently in place for all other Medicare benefits. Those who want to enroll
in a private plan for drug coverage could still do so, just as is allowed for
other Medicare benefits. Under this proposed plan Medicare could only remove
drugs after one year and must set up simplified appeals procedures so
doctors/patients would always be guaranteed access to ALL medicines required to
insure proper healthcare for patients.
Americans must have
continuous TOTAL drug coverage by removing deductibles and gaps in coverage
especially the “donut hole.” Very often people who need expensive life saving
drugs such as Cancer or Aids treatment medicines reach that gap in coverage
after 1-2 months, and are then without any coverage, having to spend thousands
of dollars, and forcing them into poverty in addition to their health
problems. These sorts of stipulations are also very confusing and obviously
harmful to those who desperately need life saving prescription medicines,
especially those with terminal or chronic illnesses that can least afford it.
The
current Medicare Part D plan is structured to be an outrageous sell out
(pharmaceutical payola) to the drug companies since there is no provision for
Medicare to shop for the best drug prices. That needs to be changed to allow
Medicare to freely shop for the most cost efficient medicines and increase the
types of medicines available on the Part D formulary. Medicare must also work
with the FDA to lower the amount of time that drug companies can hold patents
so that more generic drugs are available in the marketplace which would lower
drug prices across the board. Congress should also pass Federal regulations (similar
to those governing the tobacco industry) that prohibit the pharmaceutical
companies from advertising their “prescription only” products to the general
public, as this has greatly driven up the price of medicines in order to pay
for these types of “commercials.”
In fiscal year 2006 alone as
determined by the SSA, their employees will process
approximately 528,000 Medicare Part D low income subsidy applications. SSA has already experienced staffing cuts in 2006, and
based on the President’s proposed budget, is expected to experience even more
staffing cuts in 2007. As a result of poorly trained and overworked SSA staff
during the Medicare Part D sign up campaign, there has not been enough properly
trained SSA employees to answer questions accurately or in a timely manner. In
addition, starting in January of 2007 the Medicare Part B tax will be
increased, creating another flood of calls to the already overburdened SSA 800
number and visits to understaffed SSA field offices. To date Congress has not
provided any additional funding for staff to handle the expected work load
increase for the Part B change. With this additional change to another part of
the Medicare program, it is sure to have a negative effect on the quality of
service on both the Part D and Social Security programs as well, since staff
will have to be drained from these other programs to handle the new Part B
change. All indications lead me to believe that it is only going to get worse,
instead of better in the years to come and this is totally unacceptable.
Congress needs to properly fund these programs immediately so more well trained
staff are put in place to handle the increased work load that the changes to
the Medicare program are imposing on both the Medicare and Social Security
programs. Increased staff levels must be maintained even now that the initial
Medicare Part D signup deadline has passed, since the number of people eligible
for these benefits is only going to increase over time as the American
population ages at a faster pace compared to decades of the past.
There should never be
penalties for those who do not enroll in Medicare Part D or any other portion
of the Medicare program. Medicare is supposed to be there to keep people
healthy, not force them into having coverage, and penalize them into poverty
for the rest of their lives, if they miss a sign up deadline. Medicare should
be a healthcare program that rivals any private insurance coverage offered, and
one that people would rush to sign up for on their own without the fear of
penalties. In spite of your “positive” Medicare Part D enrollment numbers, and
the way that the current Medicare Part D plan is structured, many disabled and
elderly citizens, including myself, are still having to decide whether or not to
eat, pay heat/utility bills, give up other necessities in life, or go without
their medicines instead. No American citizen should ever be forced into making
those sorts of agonizing choices. I ask that you do right by the American
people and reform this vital healthcare program in an expedient manner. We may
be disabled but we vote! Thank you for your time.
Sign the Social Security
Disability Reform Petition – read the horror stories from all over the nation:
http://www.petitiononline.com/SSDC/petition.html
Social Security Disability
Coalition – offering FREE knowledge and support with a focus on SSD reform:
http://groups.msn.com/SocialSecurityDisabilityCoalition
Please check out my
website at:
http://www.frontiernet.net/~lindaf1/bump.html
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