Song in my head:
If there's a rock and roll heaven
Well you know they've got a hell of a band.

Righteous Brothers

Medicareless

From the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services:

CMS' Mission

We assure health care security for beneficiaries.

CMS' Vision

In serving beneficiaries, we will open our programs to full partnership with the entire health community to improve quality and efficiency in an evolving health care system.

The Reality:

Medicare ads paid by drug industry

The pharmaceutical industry quietly footed the bill for at least part of a recent multimillion-dollar ad campaign praising lawmakers who support the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to political officials.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims credit for the ads, although a spokesman refused repeatedly to say whether it had received any funds from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

Several campaign strategists not involved in the ad campaign said no legal issues were raised by the pharmaceutical industry's involvement.

Democrats seized on the disclosure, though, to renew their charge that the program amounts to a Republican-engineered windfall for drug companies.

"There's a civics lesson here from the drug companies. They write checks to protect their GOP friends, and then they write the laws to benefit themselves, all the while doctors are writing prescriptions middle-class Americans can't afford," said Bill Burton, spokesman for the House Democratic campaign organization. Yahoo News Link