It’s going to be tough for the White House to reap the political rewards of its discount drug card plan if no one actually wants the darn things.
As of Tuesday, the first day beneficiaries could use a card, 2.8 million were enrolled in the program, but all but about 400,000 of those had been automatically signed up by their Medicare HMOs. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson declared the administration “very pleased” with the numbers, saying that “May was the month for window-shopping” and that enrollment was sure to take off in the coming weeks.
But Democratic lawmakers said the figures proved that the program was “an absolute disaster” and “a huge embarrassment to the administration.”
Seniors “have shown great, good common sense by rejecting this card by the millions,” said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).
I’m shocked — shocked! — that those false, fake, and illegal ads haven’t worked at all. Seniors apparently want a real program that improves their access to affordable medication, not a gimmick pushed by the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.
“It’s like a hoax that’s been foisted on the public,” said Ethel Calandros, 69, of East Norwich, N.Y. Calandros, who suffers from glaucoma, uses two kinds of eyedrops and takes medications for seasonal allergies. She said that when the program was first announced, she thought she would get a card.
But after talking to her pharmacist, failing to get through on Medicare’s toll-free information line ([800]-MEDICARE) and being confused by the choices among 40 national cards and 33 regional ones, she has all but given up.
“There’s nothing here,” she said in a telephone interview, describing the plan as “like the emperor’s new clothes.”
“Come on, give us a break here,” she said. “I would like one card.”
I can’t imagine why seniors find the process so confusing. Oh wait; yes I can.
Pennsylvania Senate candidate Joe Hoeffel’s campaign conveniently drew a disturbingly realistic picture that helps put things in perspective (via Atrios and my friend Phil).
