Medicare Changes, Drug Lawsuits and Election Commentary

Medicare Open Enrollment Period Ends December 7

Seniors on Medicare have until December 7 to change their Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan.  Some plans are changing what they cover and often their monthly cost as well, so it is wise to check to see if what you are now carrying will be cost-effective in 2015. 

  

Similarly, changes in benefits, coverage and prescription coverage (when included) in Medicare Advantage Plans are taking place too so those insured by such plans should review what they have and what is available to them.  During the open enrollment period, changes in Medicare Advantage Plans as well as Part D Prescription Plans are possible without answering health questions.

Seniors who have Traditional Medicare (as opposed to a Medicare Advantage Plan) and who also have a Medigap Supplementary Insurance plan to fill in some of the gaps which Medicare doesn’t cover, should review the cost of the plan they are carrying.  All of these plans are standardized, but their premiums vary by the company from which they are purchased.   

Switching from one Medicare Supplement plan to another is possible, but usually, it is not guaranteed even during the open enrollment period ending on December 7.  To make such a change because of a premium increase, which would be the only reason to do so, health questions must be answered, and the company can turn down an applicant.  Switching to a less costly Medicare Advantage Plan (with or without Prescription coverage) from Traditional Medicare and a Medigap policy during the open enrollment period is possible without evidence of insurability. 

For more information, check out www.medicare.gov.  Assistance is also available from many individual agencies marketing all of these policies which can be found by doing a Google or Bing search for such things as “Medigap Policies, Part D Prescription Plans or Medicare Advantage Plans.”

(Right now, all of the above applies only to those who qualify for Medicare, specifically those who have reached aged 65.  Someday, these kinds of issues will apply to everyone, once the hodge-podge of the Affordable Care Act, which is likely to be amended to some extent by the incoming Congress, morphs into "Medicare for Everyone.")

Jack Lippman

                                                      

Generic Drugs in the Courtroom

Did you know that if you suffer harm from using a generic drug, you might not be able to sue its manufacturer as you would if you were using the original drug for which the generic drug is a substitute? 
 

Federal law requires the generic manufacturer to duplicate exactly the label warnings on a the original drug’s label, but that generic’s maker cannot routinely change their label warnings afterwards on their own, even when they become aware of a possible side effect not mentioned on that label.  Only the original drug’s manufacturer can initiate a change in their label and that of the generic drug, and hence, the generic drug’s label failure to list the warning doesn’t enable the injured person to sue the generic’s manufacturer.  Last year the Supreme Court supported this position in a 5 to 4 decision.  The FDA is considering rule changes in this area, but meanwhile, when the choice is available, a drug should be used as originally manufactured rather than in a generic substitute version. 

JL


                                                    


Election Predictions Reviewed - What Went Wrong?

Okay … so my Senate predictions were off base.  But I did say that if the Republicans took either North Carolina, Colorado or New Hampshire (all three of which I thought would go Democratic), they would win control of the Senate.  They took two of those three states, and the Independent candidate in Kansas faltered as well.   And the G.O.P. now controls the Senate.  How did this happen?

 
  Mitch McConnell will call the shots in the Senate

The greatest mistake a politician (or a political party or a prognosticator) can make is to overestimate the intelligence of the voters.   That’s why Democrats were puzzled to find that enough of the voters whom polls showed consistently to be opposed to Republican positions on issues such as getting health care, minimum wages, education, unemployment benefits, women’s rights, gun control, gay marriage, deficit reduction and job creation, didn't bother to go to the polls, or even  voted for Republican candidates rather than Democratic ones.  Go figure.

In Florida, for example, a Constitutional Amendment changing how State Supreme Court Justices were appointed was soundly defeated, despite Governor Scott’s support of it.  Another amendment, legalizing medical marijuana, failed but did get 58% of the vote.  Rick Scott opposed that too, but still was re-elected Governor.  Go figure.

Perhaps this all happened because of the unpopularity of the Democrat in the White House and had nothing to do with the issues involved in the election. 

  The Democrats figured that hitching their campaigns to Barack Obama’s record would lose them more votes than it would gain them.  This was the G.O.P.’s strategy and the Democrats bought into it too.  So they kept the President far, far in the background.

They were wrong.  The Affordable Care Act, the President’s positions on the environment, gun control, unemployment, and immigration reform as well as his successes in reducing both the deficit and unemployment and saving the automobile industry would have brought enough voters to the polls to preserve a Democratic majority in the Senate.  But these voters, seeing these issues shunted aside, weren’t motivated to vote.  The Democratic strategists missed the boat!

Why?  Over the past few years some dynamic people have departed from Obama’s side.  Rahm Emanuel, now Mayor of Chicago, would not have let this happen.  Neither would David Axelrod, Presidential adviser and mastermind of the 2012 victory.  Whoever replaced them were not up to the job.  It’s that simple.   The Democrats will not make these mistakes again.  

Look for future Democratic campaigns to be based on traditional liberal Democratic principles which benefit the working man, gender equality, young people, the environment, rebuilding our infrastructure, minorities and immigrants.   Spending money for better health care and increased regulation of the sometimes nasty edges of our free enterprise economy, as well as government kick-starting of lagging aspects of that economy are things which will bring voters to the polls and not things to hide in a futile effort to convert middle-of-the-road independents.  2014 proved that to be the wrong approach to winning.

 The Democratic Party should not try to be something that traditionally, through the days of FDR, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton, it never was.  It must be true to itself to remain the nation's majority party.

JL

                                                    
                                                                   

HOW TO BE ALERTED TO FUTURE BLOG POSTINGS.

Many readers of this blog are alerted by Email every time a new posting appears.  If you wish to be added to that Email list, just let me know by clicking on Riart1@aol.com and sending me an Email.  

HOW TO CONTACT ME or CONTRIBUTE MATERIAL TO JACK'S POTPOURRI. 

BY CLICKING ON THAT SAME ADDRESS, Riart1@aol.com   YOU ALSO CAN SEND ME YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO BE PUBLISHED IN THIS BLOG AS WELL AS YOUR COMMENTS.  (Comments can also be made by clicking on the "Post a Comment" link at the blog's end.)

MOBILE DEVICE ACCESS.

DID YOU KNOW THAT www.jackspotpourri.com IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON YOUR MOBILE DEVICES IN A MODIFIED, EASY-TO-READ, FORMAT?   

HOW TO VIEW OLDER POSTINGS.                                                

To view older postings on this blog, just click on the appropriate date in the “Blog Archive” midway down the column off to the right, or scroll down until you see the “Older Posts” notation at the very bottom of this posting.  The “Search Box” in the right side of the posting also may be helpful in locating a posting topic for which you are looking.

HOW TO FORWARD POSTINGS.

To send this posting to a friend, or enemy for that matter, whom you think might be interested in it, just click on the envelope with the arrow on the "Comments" line directly below, enabling you to send them an Email providing a link directly to this posting.  You might also want to let me know their Email address so that they may be alerted to future postings.

Jack Lippman