Media Release
| For Immediate Release | Contact | Phone |
| September 25, 2006 | Mike Olender | 732-246-4772 |
New Jersey Citizen Action, Seniors, Health and Disability Advocates
Announce Part D "Donut Hole Day", Release Report
Event Coincides with 'National Donut Hole Day': September 22nd Marks Troubling Milestone for Most of the Estimated 6.9 million Seniors and Disabled Americans Who Will Plummet into Massive Part D Coverage Gap
Trenton — Today at a Trenton State House press conference, New Jersey Citizen Action stood with coalition partners to declare September 22nd "Donut Hole Day", the date at which the average Medicare Part D enrollee will fall into the coverage gap known as the "donut hole". NJCA also released a new report by the Campaign for America's Future which blames the new prescription drug program's vast shortcomings on the influence of pharmaceutical and insurance companies and political corruption. Other participants in the press conference included Anne McBride, retired schoolteacher from Moorestown who is currently stuck in the 'donut hole'; Nathan Seagal of the Alliance for Retired Americans; Rev. Bruce Davidson, Director of the Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministries; John Glasel of Health Care for All-NJ; and Anita Clavering, Facilitator of the Middlesex County Monday Morning Network.
"According to an earlier report by the Institute for America's Future, the average Part D enrollee who signed up for a plan at the beginning of 2006 fell into the 'donut hole' on Friday September 22nd, said Mike Olender, NJCA Organizer. "At this point, enrollees will have to dig into their own pockets and pay out nearly $3,000 in drug costs before coverage resumes, leaving millions of seniors and citizens with disabilities on their own while continuing to pay a monthly premium."
He added, "In 2003, Congress had two options in providing seniors and citizens with disabilities a national prescription drug program: the right way and the wrong way. Unfortunately, pharmaceutical and insurance companies were compelling enough to get Congress to take the latter route. The 'donut hole' is just one of many reasons why Part D needs to be fixed".
The embattled prescription drug law known as Part D has been called costly, confusing and corrupt because it was written to benefit drug and insurance companies more than seniors. NJCA is urging Congress and President Bush to fix Part D to provide a drug benefit that is simple, affordable and guaranteed.
The new report, Why is the Costly, Confusing Part D Prescription Drug Program Dropping Millions of Seniors into the Donut Hole? Answer: Failed Conservative Ideology and the Money and Influence of Big PhRMA, outlines the trail of cronyism and corruption though Part D. Along with documenting the campaign contributions made by drug and insurance interests to Congress, the report cites the $10 million advertising campaign PhRMA launched to promote vulnerable Congressional Republicans by touting Part D.
New Jersey Citizen Action is calling for the "donut hole" gap in coverage between $2,250 and $5,100 to be closed and the following changes:
- Allow Medicare to use its free market muscle to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices.
- Allow seniors the choice of obtaining their prescription drug plan directly from Medicare instead of a private insurance company.
- Elimination of the late enrollment penalty fee.
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New Jersey Citizen Action is the state's largest citizen watchdog coalition, with more than 60,000 family members and over 100 affiliated organizations. 
Statement of Mike Olender on Donut Hole Day
New Jersey Citizen Action
Trenton State House, Trenton, New Jersey
September 25, 2006
Today we are here to announce that Donut Hole Day has officially arrived. According to a report by the Institute for America's Future, which we released in July, the average Part D enrollee who picked a plan in January of this year hit the donut hole this past Friday, September 22nd. New Jersey Citizen Action stands here today with seniors, the disability community, and representatives from the Alliance for Retired Americans, the Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministries, Health Care for All, and the Middlesex County Monday Morning Network to urge Congress to fix the part d disaster. In particular, we urge them to close the donut hole, which millions of Americans are experiencing and will experience this year.
In 2003, Congress announced that they had given senior citizens and citizens with disabilities something for which they have been waiting for 40 years - a prescription drug benefit under Medicare. What they did not tell us, though what was evident at the time and very obvious now, was that Part D was written in a way to better serve drug and insurance companies rather than senior citizens and people with disabilities. Since before its implementation, the Part D program has been a disaster for America. Its infinite complexity and unfairness make this one of the worst programs the country has ever seen and certainly does a disservice to Medicare by borrowing its name but not offering the level of coverage nor loyalty to those it professes to serve. Part D is not Medicare; it is a private insurance program that serves insurance and drug companies.
Since March of this year, New Jersey Citizen Action has worked with the organizations represented here today as well as many others to urge Congress to fix the many problems with this program. Since March, the problems have not been resolved because many in Congress choose to ignore their constituents, which is little surprise considering the nature of the law itself. Today we have a new report available, which was composed the by Institute for America's Future, which details not just how the Part D program is so bad, but why. The report documents the monetary influence and cozy relationships that drug and insurance lobbyists used to craft and push this bill through Congress. It also outlines the votes that our representatives and senators cast on the bill that created Part D, as well as the votes cast on others bills, including one that would have allowed Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices. The report also documents the amount of campaign contributions Congress has received from the pharmaceutical industry in 2004 and for 2006.
One of the major problems with Part D is the "donut hole", the gap in insurance coverage which traps enrollees once their total drug costs reach $2,250. From that point, enrollees must pay out nearly $3,000 in drug costs on their own until the costs total $5,100 when coverage resumes. It is estimated that nearly 7 million senior citizens and citizens with disabilities will fall into the donut hole across the country this year. According to a report composed by the Institute for America's Future, which we released earlier this summer, the average enrollee who picked a plan in January fell into the donut hole on September 22nd, 2005, this past Friday. Today we are here to announce that Donut Hole Day has arrived and for millions of seniors and people with disabilities across the country. Feel free to help yourself to some donuts, though we are not celebrating this day. Keep in mind that on Friday, the average Part D enrollee got a donut hole that isn't nearly as sweet as what you're enjoying. Fortunately for New Jersey, the state's generosity provides assistance to help keep many New Jerseyans out of the donut hole. But many are falling into the donut hole and are feeling the affects of this bad policy. One of which is Anne McBride, a retired schoolteacher from Moorestown, New Jersey. Before Anne takes the podium to speak of her experience and frustration with part d and the donut hole, I'd like to share the sentiment of two seniors who have fallen into the donut hole but cannot be here with us today:
- Isle Hain of Cliffside Park, New Jersey fell into the donut hole not in September but in July. Her frustration lead her to reach out to both of New Jersey's senators to try and find some answers. She poses the following question: are there two different U.S. governmens – one which serves the people and one which serves insurance companies?
- MaryAnne Kowalkcyzk, a retiree from Manahawkin, fell into the donut hole on March 22. She says: "I am Middle Class. My husband and I had a very nice income savings package with which we retired. We had saved all of our married life. We aren't extravagant. We don't travel. But this new 'drug plan'is going to whittle away rather quickly at our retirements savings and perhaps not see us through the 25-30 years we had planned – being a member of that 'ownership society' of which President Bush speaks so often". She added, "I am disgusted with this attempt to FLEECE the senior citizen population and to destroy Medicare as we know it. My Congressional Representatives in the House and Senate are not providing me or others with representation of our interests."
I would now like to introduce Anne McBride to speak briefly about her experience with the Part D program and its donut hole trap.