WHITE PLAINS, NY – As we approach Mother’s Day, Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D- Westchester/Rockland) today called on the Republican Majority in Congress to give America’s older or senior mothers a real Mother’s Day gift - an extension of the May 15th deadline to sign up for the Medicare prescription drug plan until December 31st so that beneficiaries are not forced to pay a lifetime penalty of permanently higher premiums.
“One week before the May 15th deadline, millions of seniors and people with disabilities still have not signed up for a plan, as a result of the enormous complexity and confusion of the prescription drug program,” stated Lowey. “I will continue fighting in Congress to extend the May 15th deadline through the end of the year, eliminating late-enrollment penalties for seniors this year.”
Without an extension of the deadline, millions of beneficiaries will be rushed to make a vital health care decision at the last-minute or face a lifetime penalty. A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll shows that nearly half of the nation’s Medicare beneficiaries still don’t realize May 15th is the deadline and are unaware of the penalties they will pay if they miss the deadline and sign up later. As of April 18th, of the 16 million Medicare beneficiaries who previously did not have drug coverage, approximately 7 million had not signed up for the Part D benefit.
In addition to incurring increased costs due to late enrollment, many seniors are facing high costs due to one of the biggest flaws of the Part D program the “doughnut hole” effect. Under the “doughnut hole,” seniors have to pay 100% out-of-pocket for drug costs between $2,251 and $5,100. But that’s not the only hole in the benefit. The law does not allow re-importation of safe, less expensive drugs from other countries, and it prohibits the federal government from negotiating for lower drug prices.
“Since the enrollment period began in November, we have seen seniors left without coverage, delays in payments, overzealous and unscrupulous marketing, and absolute mass confusion about this benefit,” added Lowey. “We need to plug these gaping holes in the Part D benefit before it millions of seniors are asked to pay thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses.”
Congresswoman Lowey has authored and cosponsored various pieces of legislation to eliminate these gaping holes in the Part D benefit, through the following provisions:
o Requiring Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for lower drug prices like the Veterans’ Administration does now;
o Allowing the safe re-importation of prescription drugs;
o Extending the enrollment deadline so that beneficiaries who sign up after the May 15th deadline will not face a significant penalty—an increase in monthly premiums of 1 percent for every month past the deadline; and
o Allowing beneficiaries to change plan without penalty if they are dissatisfied with their plans during the first year of coverage.
