This from Ted tonight. PAY ATTENTION!

[lonestarnot]

Dear Lonestarnot (I changed my name),

Today in America, large numbers of senior citizens can't get
vital medications because the Administration's faulty and
confusing Medicare Part D prescription drug plan has failed them.

Meanwhile, the Republican Congress looks the other way. Last
week, you and I had to stand up against their attempt to write
bigotry into the Constitution through their so-called Federal
Marriage Amendment. We won that argument, but lost another
opportunity to deal with the nation's real priorities, such as
the prescription drug crisis plaguing millions of Americans on
Medicare every day.

If Republicans take no action, millions of Americans who paid for
the Medicare prescription drug benefit in good faith face the
shock of having to pay out of pocket for their life-saving
medications after paying their premiums in full. That's an
outrage, and we can't wait any longer to correct it. Join me in
co-sponsoring legislation to end this emergency immediately.

http://www.tedkennedy.com/doughnuthole

The Bush Administration made a colossal blunder in creating the
badly flawed Medicare Part D program. They allowed the law to be
written by drug and insurance company lobbyists for the benefit
of the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance industry, not
seniors. They rammed it through the rubber-stamp GOP Congress and
even threatened to fire a government employee to keep him from
revealing the truth about how much the program would cost.

Here's the worst part: To hold the cost of the benefit down,
Republicans invented an absurd "doughnut hole" - a large gap in
coverage after it reaches a certain level. Millions of Americans
who signed up for the plan are about to tumble into that gap.

Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) and I have introduced
legislation to protect seniors in the "doughnut hole" from a
brutal choice: paying for drugs they urgently need, or paying for
rent and groceries and hoping for the best. Our bill will end the
"doughnut hole" once and for all, and cover the full cost of
prescription drugs.

We can't keep ignoring a crisis like this. The health of millions
of senior citizens hangs in the balance, and Republicans won't
lead. Join me in cosponsoring legislation to end the Medicare
"doughnut hole!"

http://www.tedkennedy.com/doughnuthole

Republicans even wasted precious time on another preposterous
issue. They tried again to repeal the estate tax - which would
have cost the Treasury a hundred billion dollars a year and
benefited no one but the super-rich, the richest of the rich.

The hypocrisy of giving the very wealthiest Americans a huge new
tax break while they ignore the Medicare Part D debacle speaks
volumes about Republican priorities. Seniors can't afford this
failed agenda any longer. Stand with me now and cosponsor our
legislation to save Americans from the Medicare "doughnut hole!"

http://www.tedkennedy.com/doughnuthole

Yours for the nation's senior citizens,

Senator Edward M. Kennedy

[CornField]

1. More on the doughnut hole -- It pisses me off!

First, Canadian and other foreign pharmacies are already marketing to our U.S. senior citizens because this gap in overage is so large that it is cheaper for them not to purchase drugs in the U.S. with Medicare Part D (and pay full price in other countries instead)!

Under this convoluted plan, participantes are required to pay monthly premiums, a $250 deductible, and 25% of their total prescription drug costs up to $2,250. Then the doughnut hole kicks in... once an individual's drug benefit exceeds the $2,250 limit he/she is forced to pay 100% of the total costs for prescription drugs until $5,100 in total expenses is reached. After that point, Medicare covers any additional costs at 95%

This leaves some seniors having to foot the bill for $3,600 or more in annual prescription drug costs.

The cancer drug Vesanoid generally costs between $2,000-$3,000 per month in the U.S. In Canada, the same drug averages $1,100-$2,200 per month. Seniors using this drug are falling into the doughnut hole after only two months of coverage...

All things considered -- the high co-pays, the $250 deductible, the coverage gap/doughnut hole -- many seniors will be better off purchasing their prescription medications from another nation.

[lonestarnot]

2. Got us com'n and freak'n going.

[Swamp Rat]

3. "Yours for the nation's senior citizens" - THANK YOU Sen. Kennedy!!!

Our elders are gonna be left to die, sick without their meds... it almost seems like some form of geriatricide, signed, sealed and delivered by corporate Amerika. :mad:

While we are distracted by inane, unproductive arguments, our elders are left in the lurch! :grr:

OUR ELDERS WILL HAVE THEIR MEDICATION WITHHELD! - THIS IS MURDER!!!

This is the kind of thread that makes this website.

:kick:

[WiseButAngrySara]

4. K & R and thanks again! This is so important! ....n/t

[OneBlueSky]

5. sad, outrageous, and of critical importance . . . what's really sad is . .

that important as this issue is, we also have to deal with the likes of . . .

election fraud (past and present),

corporate ownership of Congress and the Executive,

the 9/11 whitewash,

the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan/Iran,

loss of civil rights/liberties,

abandonment of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast,

domestic spying,

use of depleted uranium (and other equally heinous) weapons in Iraq/Afghanistan,

crumbling foundations of our economy,

environmental devastation . . . and . . .


who's gonna win So You Think You Can Dance . . .

[lonestarnot]

6. We can deal with all of it! Just hang tough and keep fighting!