[AFP/Pool/Daniel Berehulak]


Song in my head:
Land spreadin' out so far and wide
Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside.
Green Acres Theme by Vic Mizzy


Medicareless

A colossal mistake of humongous proportions occurred this week at our Social Security Offices and Center for Medicare. 50 million dollars were erroneusly sent to Medicare recipients as reimbursement for Medicare Part D drug reimbursement monthly premiums. The average check was for $215.

Medicare officials say they caught the glitch just after the checks were sent out last week. As a result, they sent a second letter Tuesday letting people know about the problem. The average overpayment comes to about $215. CNN Link

The government is kindly asking for a return of their money.

"Some may not realize the error that was made and may not have put the money aside," Grassley said Wednesday. "Therefore, in my view the money should be recovered in increments that are manageable for beneficiaries. This implies that they should be recovered in increments over as long a period as possible rather than withheld from one Social Security check or otherwise repaid in full at one time." CNN Link

September's monthly premium deduction will not be applied correctly either.

McClellan also said that beneficiaries need to know the government won't be able to start making monthly premium deductions again until October. CNN Link

Good luck with all that Mark McLellan, Center for Medicare Administrator. Seniors will have a hard time keeping all this straight as well as the Social Security Administration and Medicare. I did not receive any reimbursement, but if I did I would have probably have gone grocery shopping and spent most of it.

But don't worry everything is in control according to Jeff Melligan of CMS.

"But not to worry, the glitch is fixed and all is well, said CMS spokesman Jeff Nelligan. " Washington Times Link

A recent poll at the AFL/CIO weblog shows the Medicare part D as a miserable failure.

In Tuesday’s AFL-CIO Now quick poll, we asked about the new Medicare drug plan—and your experiences with it personally, or through someone you know.

Based on your responses, Bush’s Medicare drug plan is an overwhelming failure, with 87.4 percent describing their experiences as “bad” and only 4.7 percent saying their experiences had been “good.” The remainder, 7.9 percent, selected “don’t know.” AFL/CIO Weblog

As we all expected, the Medicare part D is giving pharmaceutical companies huge profits. From Dave Sirota's blog....

Everyone knew the Medicare bill was a huge taxpayer rip-off and a giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry. But now, for the first time, we are starting to put a dollar figure on the rip-off. David Sirota