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Nelson wants more time for Medicare decisions

By C.T. BOWEN
Published November 30, 2005

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson wants people to have more time.

Specifically, he wants them to have additional time to think about signing up for Medicare's new prescription drug program.

So much so, Florida's senior senator inadvertently gave about 60 people 25 extra minutes to chew it over Tuesday morning. Nelson was late to his own town hall meeting at the West Pasco Government Center, a victim of Interstate 4 traffic on a rainy morning.

To fill time, since it now was in abundance, two staffers talked about the troubles confronting 44-million Americans without health insurance. And new cost considerations for people eligible for both Medicare, the federal health insurance plan for seniors, and Medicaid, the state run program for the poor financed with federal, state and local money.

People need more time to make informed decisions, they said, because there are 43 drug plans just for Florida's Medicare recipients. Even if you asked a pharmacist for the best plan, he couldn't tell you.

By the way, Sen. Nelson didn't vote for the bill that created the new Medicare drug plan, known as Part D, his aides reminded the audience.

Three times.

By the time Nelson repeated that information, calling the bill a bailout of HMOs and pharmaceutical industries, the audience applauded.

So Nelson wants to buy more time. Enrollment began earlier this month and the deadline is May 15. It's a date hanging over people's heads like a guillotine, Nelson said. His proposal extends the deadline to December 2006. Participants also could change plans within the first year without penalty.

The law now says seniors face a premium increase of 1 percent each month if they miss the May 15 deadline. They also are prohibited from switching plans during the first 12 months. The law inexplicably bars the government from negotiating lower drug prices through bulk buying for Medicare recipients as it does through the Veterans Administration.

Those in attendance shared their concerns. Deborah Labadie of New Port Richey was at the meeting on behalf of her 81-year-old mother, Betty Massey of Holiday. Massey is attempting to remain in her own home, negotiate the confusing Medicare prescription drug plan while simultaneously dealing with skyrocketing homeowner insurance premiums.

That's another reason the deadline should be extended, Nelson answered.

"How can we help?" asked Labadie.

"Raise Cain with your members of Congress," Nelson told her.

Larry Ashley, 84, a World War II veteran living in Hudson, offered his own analogy when Nelson opened the floor to questions. The country is going to hell in a handbasket, Ashley surmised from his front-row seat.

Nelson didn't dispute the feeling of negativity brought on by confusion over the Medicare drug plan, the insurgency in Iraq and American's lack of exit strategy, and what he termed excessive partisanship, ideological rigidity and intolerance in public debates.

Perhaps trying to illustrate the senator's own attempts at being bipartisan, Nelson's staff asked Commissioner Ann Hildebrand to introduce him at the meeting's outset. Hildebrand, a Republican, handled the chore two years ago, too. Republican Commissioner Jack Mariano and Rep. John Legg (R-New Port Richey) also attended, as did New Port Richey council members Bob Langford and Marilynn deChant and several Democratic Party activists.

This isn't a campaign event, Nelson's staff warned ahead of time, so don't ask campaign-related questions. Nelson, a Democrat from Orlando, faces a re-election contest from U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Sarasota, Florida's former secretary of state. Poll results released two weeks ago showed Nelson with a 24-point lead.

Asked about campaign finance reform, Nelson acknowledged the high-cost of running for statewide office breeds the quest for contributions. One answer is publicly financed campaigns.

Another answer is familiar: more time. As in broadcast advertising time offered to candidates at a reduced rate.

Don't expect either suggestion to materialize. At least, not any time soon.

Reach C.T. Bowen at bowen@sptimes.com or at 727-869-6239.

[Last modified November 30, 2005, 02:15:38]