Entitled to Know

It's hard to believe but there are still 3-4 million low income seniors not enrolled in Medicare's Part D, even though they qualify for subsidies. CMS has got to do a better job in reaching out to these folks.

We're certainly not fans of the Medicare Modernization Act (which created Part D) but there are a variety of reasonable changes which could be made by Congress to improve that law and specifically, Part D...changes which would provide seniors the benefit promised by Congress. Congressman Lloyd Doggett from Texas has offered a bill which tackles a couple of important issues.

His legislation would streamline the subsidy application process and raise the asset limits. Currently Part D penalizes many low income seniors for having limited financial assets. Seniors shouldn't be punished for saving responsibly. We think the changes proposed in this bill are good common sense approaches to fix inequities in the current Part D program. We'll join the Congressman at a news conference to endorse this legislation this afternoon.