Republican lawmakers are preparing for an attack on Medicare Part D by Democrats, who are being urged by party leaders to talk up the drug benefit’s problems with seniors, according to an article in The Hill. Thirty Republican legislators met with HHS and CMS officials to discuss administrative fixes to the Medicare drug plan and to deflect bills being proposed by Democrats to make legislative corrections to the program. One much-criticized feature of Medicare Part D is the “doughnut hole” gap in coverage that leaves beneficiaries bare when their drug costs reach $2,250 to $5,100 annually. The response of federal officials is that beneficiaries will be notified when they are close to that threshold so they can switch plans. At least one Republican senator—John Ensign (R-Nev.)—sides with the Democrats in calling for legislative action on the Medicare drug benefit, however. Ensign said he wants Congress tie Medicare drug benefits to beneficiaries’ ability to pay for them.
