It's time to fill the Medicare Part D doughnut hole

rarely bothers to try to grasp the relevant details when he's mouthing off with his standard right-wing rhetoric.

I don't think I asked the government to take care of the problem. I asked that congress act to change a problem they created: a "hole" in the insurance coverage our seniors PURCHASE. It is not a matter of asking the government to pay for those medicines; it is changing the rules governing Part D insurance so that there is coverage for the full year, not just the first few months. Yes, I suspect that under such a plan premiums paid by our seniors for Part D insurance would go up. But as the system exists now, they pay for insurance and may still are 100% responsible for cost of their medication for most of the year. The issue is reasonable regulation, not asking the government to pay for it.

Has the concept that WE, the children of the elderly, should help take care of those who raised and took care of us as children gotten lost somewhere?

I have only the greatest respect for people like your father-in-law who work so hard their whole life. My grandfather, my hero, was such a person, working in meat packing plants and for the railroad to support his family while saving a little each week so that he might own his own business someday, which he eventually did. My father worked seven long days per week the whole time I was growing up.

Who benefitted from all of their hard work? Only those of us who were dependent on them; their children and grandchildren.

Don’t we, then, the beneficiaries, have some obligation to help our elders out financially when they get old? Couldn’t we have a few less dinners out, shorter vacations and not replace the car as often in order to help out those who did so much for us? Maybe we would set an example for our children.

Why has it become responsibility of the government to do our job for us?

I do understand that there are those who have no family. There are those who have no financial means. There are those who have families but they have no financial means. These are the people that the safety nets are supposed to provide for. The safety net could do more for those who really need it if we, if able, would take some of the responsibility upon ourselves. We need to quit looking to the government for solutions to all our problems.

Ross Balano Midwest Voices 2008

I agree. My 85 year old dad is in the same boat. His only source of income is social security. He lives in an assisted living facility. His prescriptions are over $100 per month, even AFTER his Part D insurance plan pays its part. Now that he is in the "hole" he will be paying well over $300 per month for his medicine.

I also worry that our seniors may be over medicated. Just like the drug manufacturers lobby congress, they lobby doctors to prescribe their products, and I think it works to some extent. There are 3 or 4 of the medicines my dad is on for which there is no generic. I have talked to the doctor about switching to a different drug for which there is a generic but she insists nothing is as good as this $100 per month drug. Of course, she isn't paying for it.

All I can say is; Denise, you are right on!
For the seniors who barely exist with their meager monthly SS check, how in the world can
they pay over $3,000 for the prescriptions for the so-called doughnut hole time period? LOBBYING does this! LOBBYING is bribery and American's are suffering because of it. Contact your Congressmen and Senators and tell them your sick of it and want it stopped. We could stop it if we stuck together!