Medicare drug program is plain bad medicine

Re “Medicare Situation Still Chaotic,” Jan. 14

If we didn’t know better, we might assume the Medicare drug program was designed to cause the maximum confusion to its beneficiaries. Certainly it’s likely that, so far, drug companies are not suffering and the insurance companies are not sustaining undue confusion or financial losses. It seems to me that this program was a train wreck waiting to happen, designed so President Bush could point to his compassionate conservatism in the last election campaign. How sad that this wealthy country can’t afford to provide basic healthcare for all of its citizens.

DONALD BRODER MD

Studio City

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I am a Medicare/Medi-Cal participant who has never gotten one word about this program either from Medicare or Medi-Cal. The only thing I got was a form saying my monthly deductible was $550, which is an impossible amount for me to pay. I have no idea if I’m on any replacement drug plan or not. I have no idea what’s going on.

SUSAN ALEXANDER LLAUGET

Lancaster

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Re “State Orders Help for Elderly as Medicare Glitches Spread,” Jan. 13

Bush’s new drug prescription plan is a signature program of his administration. It displays all the crucial attributes: mountains of taxpayer money given away to Bush’s corporate cronies, in this case Big Pharma; private-sector implementation by incompetents who have no idea what they are doing; U.S. citizens being callously left to their own devices, in many cases to sicken and die; and the disabling or dismantling of a crucial sector of the federal government that once provided something valuable to the population at large. Bush’s energy program, war on terror, Katrina response and attempts to dismantle Social Security all have these signature features.

The sooner we’re rid of this guy, the better off we’ll all be.

STACY BERMINGHAM

San Diego

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The Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage plan is a dismal failure. For the plan to work, the law has to be amended to permit Medicare to negotiate for drug discounts directly with the pharmaceutical companies, as it does now for medical services provided by hospitals under Medicare Part A and by doctors under Medicare Part B.

Medicare should issue a Part D card to its beneficiaries, which could be used at any pharmacy that agrees to accept the approved drug prices. Medicare pays its share of the approved amount, and the beneficiary pays the balance. It could be that simple.

RENO S. ZACK

San Dimas