The Medicare Mess
I've been wondering how much of the current prescription drug fiasco is the fault of the administration. My usual line on this kind of thing is that governing is hard, so we shouldn't eagerly jump on every mistake. Rather, we should ask how hard it was to do, how well a competent administration could be expected to do, whether the administration in question should have known/done better, etc.
Here's some evidence that the administration was warned that a mess was brewing.
I don't expect 'em to get everything right...but it'd be nice if these guys got something right at some point before leaving office.
I've been wondering how much of the current prescription drug fiasco is the fault of the administration. My usual line on this kind of thing is that governing is hard, so we shouldn't eagerly jump on every mistake. Rather, we should ask how hard it was to do, how well a competent administration could be expected to do, whether the administration in question should have known/done better, etc.
Here's some evidence that the administration was warned that a mess was brewing.
I don't expect 'em to get everything right...but it'd be nice if these guys got something right at some point before leaving office.
posted by Winston Smith at
5:04 PM
4 Comments:
I would think that if they left office early it would be the first thing they get right.
I've had to study Medicare and Medicaid for several classes, and the drug plan was a mess from the start.
Many elders may end up paying more for their drugs than they were previously due to this plan, the "doughnut hole" is going to be a disaster when it hits those seniors who will fall into it, and budget wise, it is a disaster, with the most cynical claiming that the lions share of the money is going to drug companies rather than senior citizens.
Some states, such as Maryland, have essentially declared the start of this program a public health emergency, and have set aside state funds to help seniors. And apparently that help is needed, as seniors are unable to get the medications they need.
So from funding to implementation, this program is a disaster. Whether it actually helps seniors is yet to be seen.
And for what it's worth, Medicare is one of the best run programs around. It has (if I remember correctly) 3% administrative costs. Comparatively, private insurance companies run anywhere from 15 to 50% administartive costs. So claims that Medicare needs to be run like private industry are disingenuous at best.
Guess all those gerontology classes have proved useful finally. :)
Whoa, Michelle K strikes again!
It's always good to get some actual, you know, *facts* in play around here.
Thanks.
Unfortunately for you, I can share more information than anyone (including me) would rightly want to know about Medicare.
I mean, I've got several semesters worth of notes on this stuff!
But a lot of what you may want can be found at CMS (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/) -- assuming you want to search.
The Maryland stuff I know cuz that's where my grandmother lives, and even she--staunch Republican that she is--isn't happy about this plan.
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