From a Booman Tribune post entitled, “For Shame, Tom Carper”, comes this gem (bold text added by me):
In any case, there are people who qualify for Medicaid because they have a low income. And there are people who qualify for Medicare because they are 65 years-old. Then there are people who qualify for both, and they are called ‘Dual Eligible Individuals.’ Prior to the adoption of the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, people on Medicaid were able to purchase drugs at a low cost because of bulk purchasing by the government. This is still true…except for the people on Medicaid who are also eligible for Medicare Part D. Those individuals, like everyone else in Part D, do not benefit from bulk purchasing and have to pay a higher rate. How much higher? Well, just reversing this change would save the government over $85 billion dollars. That’s almost enough money to fight for two more years in Iraq.
The Nelson-Rockefeller amendment eliminates this problem by restoring the previous situation where all members of Medicaid get Medicaid pricing on pharmaceuticals. It also phases out the infamous donut hole, where seniors are forced to pay 100% out of pocket costs on drugs between roughly $2700-$5000 despite having to pay premiums for coverage.
I hope that isn’t too complicated to understand. These changes would save the government over $85 billion dollars in subsidies and payouts to the drug companies. Seniors would no longer get hosed in the donut hole. And everyone else would get a break on paying for other people’s subsidies.
It makes a lot of sense unless you are a drug company, a Republican, or Democrat Tom Carper of Delaware. Sen. Carper is upset by this amendment because the Senate entered into a deal with PhRMA five years ago to give them this sweet multi-billion dollar giveaway. And despite the fact that it was the Bush administration and the Republicans who cut this farce of a deal (with basically no Democratic input or consent), Sen. Carper thinks it is wrong to renege on a deal.
I wish we could send an edited tape of the relevant parts of this hearing to every senior citizen of Delaware so that they could understand just how shamelessly in the hip pocket of Big Pharma their senior senator is.
Senator Jay Rockefeller was absolutely incredulous at the arguments Tom Carper made. If there is a capacity for shame in the soul of Mr. Carper, he is filled with it tonight. But I hope we can immortalize that shame. Let the video masters find the tape and do some editing. Let’s send it far and wide to seniors in Delaware. And then let’s primary this guy. His shit can’t stand the light of day.
I hope Booman will forgive me for the copy & paste job, but this is a message that needs to reach as wide an audience here in Delaware as possible. Eliminating the subsidy to the drug companies would save low-income seniors money, and save the government $85 billion dollars, but Tom Carper thinks it’s more important to hand taxpayer money to companies making record profits. Who will have the guts to stand up against this man? Will you tell your friends and neighbors?
I guarantee you the News Journal will not print this story, but sending a letter to the editor won’t hurt.