Medicare Applications Sent to Low-Income Americans

[Rose Siding]

The Bush administration said Monday that it had sent the first of some 20 million applications to low-income people who might qualify for financial assistance with Medicare's new prescription drug benefit.

But lawyers and other advocates for low-income people said the form was so complex that they expected fewer than 5 percent of the people to respond.
...
A study last year by the Government Accountability Office found that the response rate was less than 1 percent when officials sent letters to low-income Medicare beneficiaries encouraging them to apply for another form of financial assistance.
...
One section of the new form asks people to distinguish between the face value and the cash value of life insurance. "Do you or your spouse (if married and living together) own life insurance policies with a total face value of $1,500 or more?" the form asks. "If the answer for either you or your spouse is yes, how much money would you get if you turned in your insurance policies for cash right now?"

Another question asks people how much money they receive from friends and relatives to help pay for food, shelter and utilities.......

http://nytimes.com/2005/03/29/politics/29medicare.html

[WearyOne]

1. their shame knows no bounds

[0007]

2. I wonder when I'll receive my application?

.....and exactly where is junior his getting low-income information from?

[bonito]

3. Already turned in the life insurance

refinanced the house 3 times, can only work when not needed to keep my wife alive, gone far with alternative meds,and will eat dirt if need be, I am LIFE, and will NEVER, NEVER give up! In case anyone dosen't know it, so are you, so who are we fighting? just venting Thank you du.

[Rose Siding]

4. Yes, you are bonito!

You are life! Bless you.

[bonito]

5. when I am blessed, all are blessed.

a blessing is like a seed sowed, and this one will not wither, you are, what the world needs now! Peace.

[cosmicdot]

6. "the form was so complex" - America has a way of making life complex

seems our systems and institutions can't do anything without incorporating stress and anxiety into its operations ... I joke about how you need a lawyer these days just to go to the grocery store ... I know it shows my age, but it hasn't always been this way ...

of course, the 'input' in developing policies and procedures exclude the voices of those effected ... the practical matters are developed away from reality ... we can do better at establishing 'the rules' ... perhaps if we had universal healthcare ... none of this fractured deliverance of healthcare would be necessary ...

someone was polling DUers on their healthcare situation ... the results should provide a nice landscape of just how crazy the whole mess is ...

Dear low-income citzen: reveal all your personal, private information to our base ... for what? "Medicare's new prescription drug benefit"? All the complexity and bureaucracy expecting full-disclosure of our poorest citizens ... for what ... a 10% discount on a $120 prescription (an amt. likely adjusted upward to off-set any discount scheme and, if it's on the list of approved medicines)? yet, off-shore bank accounts of our richest have no scrutiny, no disclosure, no visibility ...

... how about a $15 co-pay for Rx? how about dental coverage? vision plans? How can America be strong, Bu$hCo, if all its people are not well?

RE complexity ... wait to people have to cross the Medicaid bridge (if it's still standing) ... snoop around your state's Medicaid plan webpage for insight ...
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicaid/

I'm sure the cover letter sent w/the applications has 'greetings from your leader'.

[Sgent]

7. Lets be honest here

If the low income person qualify's for the Medicare low income assistance, they will pay between 0-5% of their drug costs, with no donut and no insurance premium.

Just because we don't like the program is no reason to not encourage people to fill out forms which could free up thousands of dollars a year.

[lcooksey]

8. You have to be really, really low income

I just helped my parents fill out an application for one of the interim cards (the full program doesn't kick in until next year). They get just over $18,000/year in SS and pension. They don't even qualify for the $600 of help per year, much less the "no donut" plan. And they spend at least $500/month on prescription drugs, mostly heart and blood pressure medication.

I think to get the most help from a card, you have to have a family income of around $12,000.