Ron Pollack
Ron Pollack
among confusion far flaws medicare producing program result seniors survey
The survey underscores the fundamental flaws of the new Medicare legislation. Those flaws are producing bewilderment and confusion among seniors and will result in a far more costly program for America's seniors and taxpayers.
delay deny happen originally pay says service worst
What that says to an HMO is, well, heck, we'll just delay and delay and deny and deny, because the worst thing that could happen to us is we'll have to pay for the service we originally denied,
biggest facing obstacles seniors
The seniors who need it the most are the ones facing the biggest obstacles.
becoming both control doubt houses huge impact issue political
There's no doubt that it is becoming a huge political issue and may have a substantial impact on control of both houses of Congress.
act afford checks congress faster forced longer millions prices provide relief rise security seniors social subsist year
Year after year, as drug prices rise much faster than inflation, more and more seniors are forced to go without much-needed medications. The millions of low-income seniors, who subsist on Social Security checks that rise no faster than inflation, can no longer afford skyrocketing drug prices. Congress must act now to provide real relief to them.
believe close likelihood matching plans prices private serious
I don't believe there's any serious likelihood the private plans will come close to matching the prices that the VA has achieved,
absolutely across bewildered choice choices confronted country difficult seniors time
Seniors across the country will be absolutely bewildered by the choices they are confronted with and they are going to have a very difficult time navigating those choices.
issues policy
Of all the policy issues going on right now in Washington, this is probably the most important.
await bush changes deadline guess opposed president strongly
My guess is the deadline will change. The more fundamental changes will have to await another president because President Bush is so strongly opposed to these.
added horribly million somewhat
For all the hullabaloo and all the expenditures, they've only added somewhat more than 3 million people. That's horribly disappointing.
breaks coverage failure figure focusing frequently gained ground inaccurate mask million misleading number people prior provides start trying worth
For an administration that frequently provides inaccurate information, the use of the 25 million enrollment figure breaks new ground in misleading propaganda. The only real number that is worth focusing on is the approximately 4 million to 5 million who now have prescription drug coverage who did not have it prior to the start of the program. Unfortunately, the administration is trying to mask that failure with an exaggerated number that has nothing to do with new people who gained coverage.
equivalent rope throwing
It's the equivalent of throwing a 10-foot rope to someone in a 40-foot hole.
bargaining clout lots none prices
They wanted lots of different plans, none of which would have the bargaining clout to get prices down.
adding large number people small
This program, with such large expenditures, is only adding a small number of people to drug coverage.