[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13843]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      EYE-POPPING FIGURES FOR EXTENDING MEDICARE PART D ENROLLMENT

  (Mr. BISHOP of New York asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Speaker, eye-popping figures in the new 
GAO report just made the case for extending the Medicare part D 
enrollment deadline a great deal more compelling.
  Exhibit A, insurance providers failed to answer phone calls 
accurately in response to 70 percent of the questions asked by seniors 
about their benefit.
  Exhibit B, call centers underestimated out-of-pocket costs seniors 
have to pay by thousands of dollars.
  Exhibit C, like the insurance providers, Medicare operators often 
answered questions incorrectly according to an earlier GAO report.
  You would figure the extra $400 billion added to the initial price 
tag of the Medicare bill that the CMS actuaries didn't want to tell us 
about would at least buy seniors some peace of mind. Instead, part D 
continues to confuse and frustrate the seniors who, through no fault of 
their own, have a 3-in-10 chance of receiving the right information 
about their options.
  Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to help extend the 
enrollment deadline, repeal the sign-up penalty, and repeal the 
provision locking seniors into a plan for a year once they sign up, so 
that they won't have to pay for the consequences of a bad bill for the 
rest of their lives.

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