Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, one of my state's US Senators sent the following response to my concerns about Health Care Reform and especially fraud in the Medicare Program. Please note how he avoided any mention of the word fraud.
Maybe if you are a fraud you can't recognize it in others.
Here's the letter, I found it disappointing, uninformative and very pro-party.
See what you think.
Dear Mr. Wolfe:
Thank you for contacting me about Medicare and health reform. The Medicare program has dramatically improved the lives of millions of American seniors and persons with disabilities since its creation in 1965. I am committed to protecting and strengthening this critical program.
Reforming our health care system will strengthen Medicare. The Senate health reform bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, would protect Medicare's guaranteed benefits, ensure that Medicare savings are used to improve the program, and extend Medicare solvency. It would also reduce costs and strengthen benefits for seniors by drastically reducing the "donut hole" in prescription drug coverage, and eliminating cost-sharing for preventive services. Furthermore, the bill includes measures that would ensure that seniors living in rural areas have access to inpatient, outpatient, ambulance and lab services, and would create a competitive bidding process for Medicare Advantage plans to reduce overpayments, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates total $150 billion over 10 years.
On December 24, 2009, the Senate passed H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The House of Representatives passed its bill, H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, on November 20, 2009. House and Senate members are now working to resolve the differences between the two bills before a final package is sent to the President for his signature.
Again, thank you for letting me know your views on this important issue. Please be assured that I will continue to work in a bipartisan manner for solutions that will protect Medicare, bring down the cost of health care in this country, and expand access to quality care for all Americans.
Please visit my website at http://cardin.senate.gov to sign up for my e-newsletter.
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1 comment:
I just thought I'd add regarding this:
"Senator Ben Cardin on Health Care Reform
Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, one of my state's US Senators sent the following response to my concerns about Health Care Reform and especially fraud in the Medicare Program. Please note how he avoided any mention of the word fraud.
Maybe if you are a fraud you can't recognize it in others. "
You got a form letter; his office probably gets hundreds of letters a day on healthcare bill. They don't have staff to make personalized responses. Furthermore your letter contained a big error (600 when it should be 60; 600 billion over 10 years would be 6 Trillion, an absurd number), no explanation of what the heck you were talking about, and a demand to fix it.
Maybe the staff person thought that since you didn't know, or say what you were talking about, you wouldn't understand a deep explanation either.
To call someone a fraud because his staff person didn't waste time on a personal letter, is silly, and mean spirited.
And no one is raising your taxes unless you are earning more than ~ $500k.
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