[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 56 (Wednesday, May 10, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H2479-H2480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       PRESCRIPTION DRUG DEADLINE

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
to take her place since she is not here.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. George Miller) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to talk 
about a serious issue facing America's seniors, an issue that was just 
debated prior on the floor, the upcoming deadline for enrolling in the 
new Medicare prescription drug program.
  I, like many of my colleagues, have held forums around our 
congressional districts to try and encourage the senior citizens to 
enroll in the program and to try and help explain it with the help of 
advisers from Medicare, from the Kaiser health care organization in my 
district, from the county health care offices and many others to 
explain the process of enrolling, the benefits, and what the seniors 
need to get together to do that.
  But the problem is that time is going to run out on many of these 
seniors. There is just 5 days left to enroll in the program or face the 
possibility of a lifetime penalty. Most seniors do not fully understand 
the nature of that penalty, that that penalty will be assessed on the 
value of the average premium paid, and it will be assessed for the rest 
of the time that the senior is enrolled in the program.
  It is a serious and a harsh penalty for those who may not be able to 
sign up, because they simply failed to understand the program and need 
additional time. We have been pressing the Congress and the President 
and the Republicans in this House to extend the enrollment deadline and 
to waive the penalty for the first year to give people enough time to 
understand the confusing and complicated program.
  Instead the Republicans have brought up this resolution that was just 
passed here that encourages the beneficiaries not yet enrolled to 
enroll in the drug plan and to review carefully all of the options 
available to them.
  Many have been trying to do that and have not been able to do it 
successfully to completion. I do not believe that they should be 
punished for that. We are talking about individuals who in many cases 
have other disabilities, other problems, health care problems, and it 
is not easy to wade through these options that confuse many of them.
  This resolution does not do anything to help those individuals avoid 
the lifetime penalties. It does not give the Federal Government the 
power to negotiate in bulk for the drug companies and for lower 
prescription prices.
  Instead of passing this resolution, I would have hoped that the 
Republicans would have brought forth a provision to provide real help 
to the beneficiaries by giving them more time to review carefully all 
of the options that are available and delaying the deadline until May 
31.
  Why, you ask, is this necessary? On April 26, USA Today reported less 
than 3 weeks remain for most Medicare

[[Page H2480]]

beneficiaries to sign up for the prescription drug coverage without 
penalties, but nearly half the Nation's seniors do not know it.
  The fact is that many beneficiaries are still unaware of the 
deadlines and the penalties, highlighting the fact that more time is 
needed. But even those who know about the deadlines and penalties are 
having a hard time with this confusing law. A new GAO report found that 
many beneficiaries are receiving inadequate, incorrect information from 
the Medicare hotline that many of us have been encouraging them to call 
to help them enroll.
  It has been inadequate help to them and seniors should not be 
punished for that reason. The Wall Street Journal reported just a 
couple of days ago that the Federal investigators from the GAO posing 
as senior citizens found that the Medicare operators routinely failed 
to give callers accurate and complete information about the 
government's new drug benefit.

                              {time}  2000

  Investigators said that about one-third of their calls resulted in 
faulty responses or no response at all because of disconnected calls. 
This is not an atmosphere which should lead to the punishment of senior 
citizens who are making a good-faith effort to reach Medicare, to reach 
for the enrollment, to understand the program and make the decision for 
themselves or a member of their families on a timely basis.
  Based upon a new analysis, there are probably about nine million 
beneficiaries with little or no drug coverage who still have failed to 
sign up. According to the nonpartisan CBO, delaying the deadline to 
December 31 would save more than 7 million beneficiaries from a 
lifetime of higher monthly premiums.
  If the Republicans were truly interested in fulfilling the program 
that they designed, then they ought to extend the deadline so that 
senior citizens that we represent can have an opportunity to enroll and 
put off that penalty.
  So I would hope--there is still time between now and the 15th, I 
would hope that now that they have passed this resolution, we would 
bring out legislation to provide an extension of time for seniors who 
are in fact acting in good faith.
  The suggestion has not been made that seniors are trying to dodge the 
obligation. We know why there is a penalty. Eventually you want them 
all to sign up so people do not selectively enroll and cherry-pick and 
make the program more complex. But the indication is not that seniors 
are refusing or trying to dodge the program. The indication is that 
many are still reaching out in good faith to sign up for the program 
and to understand the program, but they just have not been successfully 
able to do that.
  It seems to me that is not what a government should be doing is 
punishing people going through the process in good faith, but simply 
have not been able to negotiate it.

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