Goode News for April 5

Goode News for April 5

The debate over illegal immigration is in progress in the U. S. Senate. The Senate appears to be moving toward legislation that is significantly different from the bill passed by the House of Representatives.

The House-passed legislation focuses primarily on border security and enforcement. In my estimation, there is no issue more important to the United States than securing our borders. It is now estimated that there are as many as 20 million illegal immigrants now in this country, and we have no idea who they are, where they are or how many pose a terrorist threat. Also, the more porous our borders, the greater the potential for drug-traffickers and weapons smugglers to be able to enter the U. S.

Last week, I was honored to be named a recipient of the 2006 Community Health Defender Award by the National Association of Community Health Centers. The award is given annually to members of Congress who work to expand the number of Community Health Centers that provide quality health care to medically uninsured and underserved persons. There are several Community Health Centers around the Fifth District of Virginia, and they provide a valuable service to many individuals and families
The Community Health Centers program was established 40 years ago. Today, these centers serve 15 million low-income children and adults in 3,600 communities across the United States, including more than 177,000 in Virginia.
Also this week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported that almost two million additional beneficiaries have signed up for the new Medicare prescription drug plan since the middle of February. This represents
a 25 percent increase over last month in the number of people who have
selected a plan and brings the total of those who have signed up
individually over the past four months to approximately 7.2 million. The goal set by HHS was 28-to-30 million enrollees in the first year. To date, over 27 million have signed up.

While some persons have complained about the new program and say that it does not work for them, many others reports that they are saving significantly on their prescription medicines. If you have not investigated the prescription drug plan to see if it will benefit you, the deadline for registering without being subject to a penalty is May 15th. If you need help registering or have any questions, you may contact Jennifer Moorefield in my Danville office by calling toll-free, 1-800-535-4008. You may enroll on the Internet by visiting www.medicare.gov.

http://www.house.gov/goode/20060405.shtml