Stabenow Renews Call to Extend Medicare Enrollment Deadline
Stabenow Renews Call to Extend Medicare Enrollment Deadline
Michigan Seniors Should Not Face Penalties While Navigating Complicated Information
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) today urged President Bush to extend the Medicare Prescription Drug Program enrollment deadline so that Michigan seniors and people with disabilities will not face a financial penalty if they enroll in a plan after May 15, 2006. Stabenow is the co-author of legislation that would give seniors through the end of this year to choose a prescription drug plan, and will help lead the effort this week in the Senate to pass the extension.
"This is a critical time for Michigan seniors as they wade through complicated and sometimes contradictory information to choose the prescription drug program that meets their needs," Stabenow said. "It's not fair to punish seniors with a lifetime financial penalty for the mistakes made by the Administration. The deadline must be extended so that seniors aren't rushed into a decision."
Stabenow noted that last week, the non-partisan Government Accounting Office (GAO) released a report that found the information provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) about the Medicare Prescription Drug program is full of errors and difficult for seniors to use. GAO found significant problems with the information in the Medicare handbooks, website and 1-800 Medicare hotline.
The GAO reported that one-third of all calls to the Medicare helpline were either unanswered or answered with inaccurate information. The Medicare website was found to be poorly designed and too complicated for seniors to complete most simple tasks they attempted to complete on the website. And for one critical, basic question asked by GAO, which plan offers the lowest costs for individuals with a given list of medications - CMS operators provided the wrong information on almost 60 percent of the calls.
"The GAO has confirmed what I have been hearing for months from seniors all over the state - the Administration is not providing the straightforward, accurate information needed to make the right choice," said Stabenow. "This week in the Senate, I will lead the fight to extend the deadline so that Michigan seniors don't have to beat the clock to avoid a penalty."
On April 19th, Stabenow joined a bipartisan group of 48 senators in a letter calling on Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to bring legislation extending the Medicare prescription drug deadline to the Senate floor as soon as possible.
http://www.stabenow.senate.gov/press/2006/050806CalltoExtendMedicareEnrollmentDeadline.htm