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Congress must act to close the Medicare doughnut hole

Medicare Part D is an assault on a vulnerable group of our population: seniors living on a fixed income, especially Social Security and pensions. While it is most stressful on those suffering from catastrophic illnesses, even seniors requiring one prescription may find themselves having to choose between medicine and food.

Would you want an elderly relative of yours - afflicted with sciatica as a colleague of mine is - to be unable to afford pain medicine? Or another, with multiple prescriptions, to have to choose among them?

The Senate must act to amend (since it cannot retract) the law that inflicts this burden on those who simply cannot handle it. Eliminating the "doughnut hole" is essential to the health and well-being of our less-affluent seniors.

Mrs. C. Santora, Sun City Center

Part D increased costs for some

Re: Medicare "doughnut hole" about to swallow 3-million seniors, July 3.

Medicare administrator Mark McClellan says there were no prescription drug programs for seniors prior to Part D.

Not true. There were many discount plans, and we were enrolled in one that had us spending about $200 a month for prescriptions. Part D killed them and now we are looking at almost $800 a month. Some enormous benefit! And another vote of thanks to our courageous congressmen who voted themselves a big raise but won't let Medicare negotiate drug costs.

Let's hope the many millions of seniors turn out in full force come election time - and turn these rascals out.

Robert Cargell, Beverly Hills

Government caters to corporate greed

Re: Drug approved to combat major source of blindness, July 1.

The first drug promising to effectively treat macular degeneration, which causes age-related blindness, received federal approval in late June.

Lucentis, made by Genentech, will cost $1,950 for the required monthly dose. Conservatively add another $200 for the ophthalmologist who performs the injection, and the monthly cost becomes $2,150, or an annual cost of $25,800, which is higher than the annual median family income in my Florida county.

Often insurance will be there to soften the blow, at the expense of increased premiums, of course. And there are Medicare and Medicaid, which will no doubt be fraught with means-testing and other administrative burdens, driving the annual cost per patient up to perhaps $35,000. This cost will be added to the tax burden paid by each of us.

Now here is the strange part: Genentech will never be asked to defend its pricing. Insurance companies will be obligated to cover the Lucentis cost at $1,950 per monthly dose. Further, our government, through Medicare and Medicaid, will provide the administration free-of-cost to Genentech.

One might question: Why does our government not negotiate prices with drug companies? Or, better, why does the United States not have a single-payer national medical program to administer such issues, as has every other industrialized nation in the world? And should our Congress now be more concerned with amending the Constitution to prohibit gay marriage and flag burning than to prevent blindness among our seniors?

It's high time the electorate gets fed up with this government that caters to corporate greed, discharges the rascals, and sends in some decent, honest and straight-talking agents of the people's cause.

Rafe Pilgrim, Crystal River

A child's life was on the line

Re: Rights violation is not a technicality, editorial, July 2.

"There is a legal, ethical and moral responsibility for law enforcement to honor requests for legal representation."

This was the statement made in your editorial about John Couey's request for an attorney. In a normal police investigation, you are absolutely correct. However, this investigation was anything but everyday. A child's life was on the line and while a "rights violation is not a technicality," neither is a child's life.

Officials believed Jessica may still have been alive and were doing everything to try and find her. Time was an extremely important factor in this case. Don't forget, that poor child was buried alive. If ignoring Couey's request for an attorney gave police the slightest chance of finding Jessica, then they were most definitely exercising their moral and ethical responsibility. The law took care of itself when the confession was thrown out.

I thank God that their are so many police officers out there that take the most important aspects of their job seriously - to serve and protect. Although they were unable to overcome the actions of this sick man in time, their efforts were heroic.

April Hamill, Pinellas Park

Justice system protects criminals

Re: Couey case.

It seems that our country is more concerned about the rights of the criminal than about the victims. Where were Jessica Lunsford's rights when she was abducted, raped and murdered?

Our laws are supposed to protect the innocent, but more and more you see criminals getting away with murder, rape and anything else that a fast-talking lawyer can get them off on. Is it any wonder that the people do not trust the law anymore? The police do their job and put their lives on the line each day and yet when a case gets to court system many times all their work is for nothing.

I just would like to know when the justice system is going to work for the innocent and stop protecting criminals of the country.

Charlene Ohrt, Largo

Progress for community-based care

Re: Foster care problems continue, June 20.

The Florida Department of Children and Families and 22 community-based care lead agencies (CBCs) continue to improve the state's child welfare system.

A study done by the state's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, which compared data from fiscal 1998-99, when the transition to outsourcing began, to fiscal year 2004-05, when CBCs were in operation statewide, revealed very positive progress. The number of children who exit foster care within 12 months increased by 24 percent, the number of children reunified with their families within 12 months increased by 20 percent, and the number of children in licensed foster care was down 15 percent. Case loads for CBC case managers decreased by a third, as did vacant case manager positions, and adoptions finalized by CBCs have more than doubled.

The report revealed an increase in the percentage of children who experienced re-abuse over the past six years, but we believe prevention efforts have raised community awareness leading to increased reports of abuse. We have, however, identified a need for better after-care for children who are reunited with their families, and we are addressing that issue.

The cost per child in the community-based system of care has increased in recent years from $6,177, prior to the outsourcing of child welfare services in fiscal year 1998-99, to $11,759 in fiscal year 2005-2006. This increase in funding is a clear indication of the commitment by the state Legislature to invest in the care of Florida's most vulnerable children.

We work closely with our CBC lead agencies to monitor their performance and implement changes when necessary. We look forward to their continued success caring for our most vulnerable children.

Lucy D. Hadi, secretary, Florida Department of Children and Families, Tallahassee

Hammerhead catch is an outrage

Re: Catch is a big inside story, June 30.

Just exactly what purpose did it serve to slaughter the record-size hammerhead shark and her 55 pups? Was this merciless killing used to bolster the manhood of the Port Charlotte sportsman who gloats in the prize photo? The picture of the 55 nearly full-term pups was one of the most disturbing and heart-wrenching images I've ever seen.

It's incredulous that the marine scientists who inherited the remains of this marvelous animal "expressed sadness" about the loss. They should be outraged. And so should we.

Ray Dabkowski, Dunedin

[Last modified July 5, 2006, 09:02:14]