Tag: nejm

Medicare Part D — The Product of a Broken Process

I am posting this article from the New England Journal of Medicine http://content.nejm.org/cgi/co… in full and admitting to all the laws and rules I have broken, so sue me. The article was written by Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY) who was the ranking member of the committee on rules. I am doing this to inform those who need informing, you know who you are – hold up your hands, how K street, lobbyist, and corporate $ have taken our government and are in the process even as we speak of stealing from seniors and the disabled via plan D. I was caught in this and am still hot about it. This article shows the depth of corruption and how legislators operate with impunity, disregard of the law and, without fear of criticism from their ethics committee. We must keep hammering these guys and get more folk involved if we are to counter the big $. Article, written June1, 2006, begins:

“Most Americans agree that affordable drug coverage under Medicare has been needed for some time. But instead of a solution to a growing problem, Congress gave the country a prescription-drug plan that achieves few of its original goals. The current problems with Medicare Part D are largely the direct result of the undemocratic way in which the plan was authored and passed. The final legislation, heavily influenced by drug-company and health insurance lobbyists, focused mainly on the needs of those industries instead of those of the seniors it should serve.