What People Tell Me
Congressman
Tom Petri
Tom Petri
February 08, 2006
I recently completed a series of town meetings in 12 cities and towns around the 6th Congressional District. I want to thank everyone who stopped by. Democracy can work only if people take the time to meet with their representatives to share their views.
Several people came to express concerns about the new Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit. Many complained that the program is too complex, that it has too many plans to choose from which just confuses people. Others wanted to know why eligible seniors who fail to sign up by May 15 will be penalized if they decide to sign up late.
I hear you. The sign-up process has been chaotic. To some extent this has been the nearly inevitable result of starting up a large new benefit program. Insurance providers have been overwhelmed, pharmacists have been overworked, and people say they aren't getting prompt enough help from the Medicare help line (1-800-Medicare).
So, why are there so many plans? Instead of providing a one-size-fits-all top-down plan, Congress opted to encourage insurers to provide a wide range of choices. The plans are supposed to compete against each other to keep costs down.
Why is there a penalty for eligible seniors who sign up late? The drug benefit is designed partially as a benefit, but also partially as insurance. You don't wait until your house is already burning before you sign up for fire coverage, and it's generally more expensive to get health insurance if you're already sick. If you want relatively low rates for your drug coverage, you are naturally expected to start paying into the program before you need to start drawing large amounts out of it.
I expect drug coverage to work much more smoothly as the government, private providers and beneficiaries all get more used to the new benefits. Still, everybody in Congress knows that we will have to review the plan and come up with some changes.
Another topic which came up was the current lobbying scandal in Congress. It seems that some lawmakers come to Washington convinced it's a cesspool but after a while decide it's a hot tub and jump right in.
I support reforms. We need new regulations to control influence peddling in government and new enforcement mechanisms so that wrongdoers will be caught or deterred.
But, I've long advocated an additional approach which deserves more attention. Among my campaign reform proposals are provisions to provide tax credits and deductions for small campaign contributions and to require politicians to raise more money locally rather than in Washington.
How would this help? Campaigns cost money, and the funds have to come from somewhere, but it's much better to have many small contributions coming from the folks back home rather than a relatively few large contributions coming from national interests through their lobbyists in Washington.
Several people came to express concerns about the new Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit. Many complained that the program is too complex, that it has too many plans to choose from which just confuses people. Others wanted to know why eligible seniors who fail to sign up by May 15 will be penalized if they decide to sign up late.
I hear you. The sign-up process has been chaotic. To some extent this has been the nearly inevitable result of starting up a large new benefit program. Insurance providers have been overwhelmed, pharmacists have been overworked, and people say they aren't getting prompt enough help from the Medicare help line (1-800-Medicare).
So, why are there so many plans? Instead of providing a one-size-fits-all top-down plan, Congress opted to encourage insurers to provide a wide range of choices. The plans are supposed to compete against each other to keep costs down.
Why is there a penalty for eligible seniors who sign up late? The drug benefit is designed partially as a benefit, but also partially as insurance. You don't wait until your house is already burning before you sign up for fire coverage, and it's generally more expensive to get health insurance if you're already sick. If you want relatively low rates for your drug coverage, you are naturally expected to start paying into the program before you need to start drawing large amounts out of it.
I expect drug coverage to work much more smoothly as the government, private providers and beneficiaries all get more used to the new benefits. Still, everybody in Congress knows that we will have to review the plan and come up with some changes.
Another topic which came up was the current lobbying scandal in Congress. It seems that some lawmakers come to Washington convinced it's a cesspool but after a while decide it's a hot tub and jump right in.
I support reforms. We need new regulations to control influence peddling in government and new enforcement mechanisms so that wrongdoers will be caught or deterred.
But, I've long advocated an additional approach which deserves more attention. Among my campaign reform proposals are provisions to provide tax credits and deductions for small campaign contributions and to require politicians to raise more money locally rather than in Washington.
How would this help? Campaigns cost money, and the funds have to come from somewhere, but it's much better to have many small contributions coming from the folks back home rather than a relatively few large contributions coming from national interests through their lobbyists in Washington.
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