(Washington D.C.)- With the May 15th deadline quickly approaching and millions of Americans still deciding whether to enroll in a drug plan, U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D-Royal Oak), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, attended what may be the only Ways and Means Health subcommittee oversight hearing on the new Medicare Prescription Drug program.  Levin and other senior Ways & Means Members have repeatedly asked the Committee to conduct oversight hearings on the drug program.   Democrats took the opportunity to ask the tough questions about extending the enrollment deadline and offered a warning that the largest difficulties with the new drug law may still be ahead.

"We must extend the May 15th deadline so seniors don't pay the price for the flawed Republican drug law," argued U.S. Rep. Levin. "It is simply unfair to make seniors pay a lifetime of higher costs for drug coverage because President Bush and Congressional Republicans insisted on a confusing, inadequate benefit, making it difficult for Medicare beneficiaries to decide whether to enroll and navigate the new system."

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the May 15th deadline will prevent about 1 million beneficiaries from enrolling this year. According to Area Agency on Aging 1-B, over 56 percent of Michiganders who did not have coverage prior to the enactment of the new drug law still have not signed up for coverage. The number of those seniors who still have not enrolled in a drug plan for Macomb and Oakland County are similar. In Macomb County, nearly 55 percent have still not yet signed up for a drug plan, and over 55 percent have not enrolled in a plan in Oakland County. This mirrors national statistics where the Kaiser Foundation estimates that about half of seniors who didn't have drug coverage prior to the new drug law still do not have any drug coverage at all. Under the current rules, those who miss the deadline will be blocked from coverage until January of 2007.

Democrats asked witnesses at the hearing for more information about how they plan to handle the gap in coverage, which most beneficiaries have not yet experienced.  Under the Republican prescription drug plan, the standard drug insurance provides coverage for the first $2,100 worth of medications, but then provides no coverage at all until the beneficiary has spent $3,600 of his or her own money to buy medicine.  The new program has had difficulty tracking relatively simple information, like which plan seniors are enrolled in and what premium to deduct from their Social Security checks, raising concerns about how well it will track spending in the so-called ?doughnut hole.?

"I have always supported having Medicare cover prescription drugs just like it covers doctor visits.  But the structural flaws in the bill are ticking time bombs," warned U.S. Rep. Levin. "As more seniors approach the gap in coverage, it will become even more urgent that we repeal the ban on Medicare negotiating lower drug prices for all seniors."

Levin has held four "Community Conversations" on the new drug law with seniors throughout the 12th Congressional District earlier this year. Seniors shared with Levin their difficulties in getting their necessary medicines at pharmacies, longer than average phone hold times waiting for assistance from drug plans, and confusion among drug plan premiums. Because of this confusion and the lack of information available to seniors in choosing a drug plan, Levin has cosponsored legislation aimed at extending the May 15th deadline so seniors would not receive a penalty as result of missing the deadline.

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