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Miller Supports Bill to ease over new Medicare Drug Plan

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the widespread difficulty that seniors in the Bay Area and across the country are having choosing a new Medicare prescription drug plan, Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) announced today that he is cosponsoring new legislation to help ease the choice for seniors. Under current law, enrollment for the new drug benefit began Tuesday and remains open until May of 2006, with the benefit taking effect in January.

“Trying to figure out this prescription drug benefit is like trying to navigate a maze blindfolded,” said Miller. “Seniors need more time to make an informed decision, and they need a chance to switch plans if they enroll in the wrong plan. That’s why I am co-sponsoring a bill to help remedy this serious obstacle to getting Medicare recipients the prescription drug coverage they need in a timely and affordable way.”

The bill, the Medicare Informed Choice Act, was authored by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA). It would:

Delay a late-enrollment penalty for seniors who do not sign up before the May 15 deadline;
Prevent beneficiaries from losing their employer-based coverage, and;
Allow seniors to switch plans if they make a mistake – for example, if they enroll in a plan without knowing that it could cost them their existing benefits.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll conducted last month showed that 61 percent of elderly beneficiaries say they don’t understand the new drug benefit, that only 20 percent planned to enroll, and that 39 percent say the Medicare drug benefit won’t help them personally. But many seniors and persons with disabilities are desperately trying to understand the new benefit either because they are desperately in need of help in paying high prescription drug bills or because they don’t want to incur a financial penalty.

The confusion over the new drug benefit arises because the Medicare Modernization Act, a bill that was narrowly approved by Congress in 2003, forces Medicare beneficiaries to choose between numerous competing private plans from companies that are bombarding them with advertisements instead of providing a uniform benefit under Medicare. Miller voted against the bill for a number of reasons, one of which was that it was going to be enormously complicated to navigate. The act was written to benefit the drug companies, not senior citizens and people with disabilities. Miller also opposed the plan because it guarantees high prices to the drug makers, rather than forcing a negotiated price between the federal government and the companies on behalf of seniors.

“Regardless of my opposition to the bill, which I continue to believe was the right vote, I want to do what I can to help seniors navigate this unnecessarily complicated process and make informed choices to help them get the most they can out of the new benefit,” Miller said.

Miller is also a co-sponsor of the Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choices Act, introduced in February, which would require that Medicare offer a drug benefit and negotiate for drug discounts for enrollees in order to reduce costs and provide a permanent, guaranteed alternative to private insurance plans.

healthcare

Posted by Intern, CA07 at 02:34PM | Comments ()

Miller, Durbin call on Intelligence Committees to subpoena Chalabi

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the Senate and House Intelligence Committees to subpoena visiting Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi for his testimony about his role in providing false intelligence about Iraq and leaking U.S. secrets to Iran.

Chalabi is reportedly meeting with Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice, Treasury Secretary John Snow, Vice President Cheney and other top officials to discuss the situation in Iraq. But press reports indicate that neither Chalabi nor any top current or former U.S. officials have been interviewed by the FBI about charges that Chalabi leaked U.S. secrets to Iran.

Miller and Durbin also noted that there has been no indication that the Senate Intelligence Committee will call Chalabi as a witness, despite promises made by Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) that he would reinvigorate the stalled investigation into problems with pre-war intelligence this month.

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote: “We write to you today to raise our grave concerns about Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi’s visit to Washington this week and to request that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence subpoena this individual this week . . . Mr. Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress, which he founded, supplied inaccurate information to the U.S. government about Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction. This information became a significant and now thoroughly discredited component of the Administration’s case for going to war in Iraq. We believe it is critical to the Committee’s Phase II investigations to learn more about this matter, and therefore believe that Mr. Chalabi should testify before the committee.”

Miller and Durbin said that Americans deserve the truth about Chalabi’s role in the manipulation of intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq.

corruption defense intelligence Iraq nationalsecurity

Posted by Intern, CA07 at 07:09PM | Comments ()

Miller announces funding for water projects in Contra Costa and Solano

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) announced today that the House of Representatives approved a final bill Wednesday that includes more than $10 million in water projects for Contra Costa and Solano counties that were included at his request. The Senate is expected to approve identical legislation shortly.

“The bill approved by the House today will help improve local water quality, levee repair, and ship navigation,” said Miller.

The bill includes:

$2.98 million for ongoing maintenance dredging of Pinole Shoal Channel, to ensure the safe transport of crude oil to East Bay area refineries;

$225,000 for the Army Corps of Engineers to use sediment from the Pinole Shoal Channel to repair levees in the San Joaquin - Sacramento Delta;

$188,000 for the completion of a General Reevaluation Report on the Lower Walnut Creek Channel, which will identify how to combine river restoration goals with flood control objectives; and

$2 million to help improve drinking water quality, and protect drinking water during emergencies such as Delta levee failures, by constructing a new intake in the Central Delta.

The bill, H.R.2419, provides federal funding for the 2006 fiscal year. It was first passed by the House in May of this year; after the Senate approves it, it will be sent to the President to be signed into law.

baydelta Contra Costa districtmatters energyandenvironment natural resources Solano transportation water

Posted by Intern, CA07 at 06:52PM | Comments ()