David P. Rundle, a freelance writer who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, wrote a diary-like commentary on today’s Opinion page about his struggles with the new Medicare prescription drug plan. Rundle is a “dual-eligible” — meaning that he qualifies both for Medicare and Medicaid. He must take his medicine; otherwise he has seizures. But he wrote of the trouble and frustration he had trying to get his drugs, and at the proper price. Said Rundle: “It is cruel and unfair to make many of our most vulnerable citizens go through this.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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15 Comments
So…the new system of giving free or discounted drugs is not perfect. Has any new program of any kind ever been perfect? I seem to remember people complaining about the free cheese giveaways 25 years ago. I see people complain about the paperwork required to get free housing.
All this whining about a new program is tiresome. Of course, we all know it is the personal fault of the president. He obviously wrote all the procedures and policies himself wtih the sole intent of making life miserable for people.
The new program is a few months old and is confusing. Does nobody have any patience? Am I the only person on the planet that thinks some of these people looking for handouts have unreasonable expectations?
Oh, for God’s sake!! There is a huge differnce between getting free cheese and getting life saving meds. Many disabled people don’t have the luxury of being patient, their lives depend on the meds they take every day. Try telling a diabetic that he can just wait for his insulin or someone with severe mental illness who needs meds to keep his mind clear in order to function that he’ll have to wait “until the kinks are worked out”. I could go on and on, but you get my drift. Where the hell is your compassion? And who the hell are you to judge anyone? I hope you never find yourself in a situation where you have to be dependant on the government to live, but such an attitude often tempts fate. Never say never, Raptor, some day you may find youself “whining” along with everyone else.
Damoon,We don’t know if Raptor is a person lacking compassion. We do know he is a person speaking from ignorance. Thanks for setting it straight.
Yeah, I’m thinking that just shrugging your shoulders and saying “hey it’s new, whaddya expect?” might work as the administration’s Very Best Mea Culpa for some people, but probably not for anybody who finds himself on the business end of the GOP’s implementation of Medicare Part D.
Doesn’t work for their boomer kids either (who in lots of cases, including mine, are doing a lot of work and wasting a lot of time during this fiasco).
Quick question: did Medicare *itself*, the whole enchilada, did its original, Day One implementation result in these kinds of problems?
I think not, and I think it’s one of the best indicators of a good law implemented flawlessly (Medicare old school) and a bad law implemented ineptly or indifferently (Medicare Part D).
Rap–Of course Bush didn’t write it . . . hell, he didn’t even READ it.
What he did was tell his staffers: “give big Pharma whatever they want. They pay your salaries.”
And so, the staffers did.
Citizens be damned, rich corporations got their investments back with interest.
remember:
Ignorance can be cured… stupidity is for a life time.
People can’t afford to have patience, if they don’t sign up by the deadline they are charged a 1% penalty per month for their coverage, plus this is playing with people’s lives and their livelihoods, it’s wholly unacceptable for it to be this bad. People can’t even call in because the phone lines are constantly jammed. It’s pathetic.
Hey Raptor,
Can you still get that free cheese?!
Hank
It’s not perfect.
Are we saying the Bush Medicare drug program is so complex that it had to be intelligently designed? I didn’t think so!It was designed to be unwieldy, incomprehensible and unimaginably expensive. It was designed from the outset to fail, by people who are making a boodle under our current system(?) for an administration who has to say they attacked the problem of high prescription prices for the elderly.The pharmaceutical industry cites the expense of all that research as justification for $10+per pill, but almost all breakthrough medications are discovered in college labs and financed with government grants (ultimately the taxpayers), and licensed by the colleges to the manufacturers. Other companies then research those drugs in order to hopefully come up with me-too drugs that are just enough different to be patentable. That’s where the research dollars are spent!So now we have a plan that doesn’t deliver what it promises, is so cumbersome and confusing that it has no chance of working and still guarantees the drug companies an exorbitant profit.Is that intelligent design, or what?
Thank God for Canada. I get my meds from Canada. My individual medical policy at $700 per month doesn’t have prescription coverage. By using canadian drugs, I saved right at 56% for a 3 month supply. If the phamaceuticals can sell it cheaper to Canadian pharmacies, why not hear in the states.
Below is a link to an article describing the increased cost, not to mention the increased suffering, of the lousy transition we are seeing:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/21/politics/21drug.html
It’s been a nightmare. Last week I spent over 2 hours at one pharmacy just trying to get one of my clients in their system. He had been almost 3 days without his medication for his breathing treatment that he takes 4 times a day for his severe and chronic lung disease. I was determined not to leave until he was in the system and I had his meds in hand to deliver to him myself. I can’t imagine what it’s like for the elderly and disabled to try and navigate this impossible system by themselves. I don’t think those in charge of this mess realize how critical it is for many people who lives depend on getting their medications everyday.
Da,It’s not that they don’t realize, they just don’t care. They didn’t want to spend the money or offend their campaign contributors, but the voters (you know- their bosses) demanded a prescription drug plan. So they cobbled together something that the drug companies would like, made sure it wouldn’t last very long, and now can go back home and say they did what we wanted them to.
I think it’s just incompetency, like many govenment run programs. I think things will get better, but I hope no one dies while they wait for the problems to be worked out.