Jeffords And Leahy Push For Fixes
To Medicare Drug Benefit Plans

. . . Senators Say Seniors, Pharmacists And State Coffers
Need Urgent Relief Under Problem-Plagued Program

(FRIDAY, Jan. 20) -- Less than three weeks into the new Medicare prescription drug plan, seniors and pharmacists already need relief from the problem-fraught program, say Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.).  Poor planning for the program’s rollout has led to seniors being overcharged for prescriptions and, in many cases, being turned away from pharmacies without their needed medications. 

Governors and legislatures in 26 states, including Vermont, have stepped up to cover the cost of drugs for seniors who are being denied coverage or overcharged for their medications.  More than 30,000 seniors in Vermont are being covered by the state at a cost of roughly $245,000 a day.  Leahy and Jeffords Friday joined other senators in introducing a bill to compensate states for their interim efforts to patch the problems in the flawed federal program. 

Leahy, Jeffords and 17 other senators also introduced legislation to offer seniors, pharmacists and counselors assistance in navigating through the flawed program.  The Requiring Emergency Pharmaceutical Access for Individual Relief, or REPAIR Act, would help ensure that seniors who have been incorrectly charged premiums or deductibles are compensated.  The bill would reduce Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) help line wait times and require that CMS deploy staff  to work with State Health Insurance Assistance Program offices across the country that are helping to enroll seniors in plans.  The bill would also require that prescription drug plans cover a 30 day supply of transitional medicine, even if the drug is not ordinarily covered by the plan. 

“Vermont’s seniors are paying the price for the Administration’s failure to properly implement this program.  That’s unfair, and it’s leading to chaos,” said Leahy.  “With more than two years to prepare for this start date, it is inexcusable that seniors have been forced to go without medications or have been dramatically overcharged for their prescriptions.  This legislation would make sure that seniors and pharmacists are held harmless from the mistakes made by the federal government in switching beneficiaries to this new prescription drug plan.”

“I applaud the state of Vermont for stepping up when the federal government fell woefully short in administering the new Medicare drug plan,” said Jeffords.  “The people most affected by this problem – our seniors, disabled and low-income citizens – can’t afford to have their lives disrupted by bureaucratic bungling.  No one should have to wait even one day for their medication. ” 

As enrollment for the program began in November, Leahy pressed to add additional protections for seniors as they made their drug plan choices.  That bill has been brought to the Senate floor in a test vote, and Leahy and other cosponsors of the bill say they will keep trying until it passes.  

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