While it's probably not a stretch to suggest that the exit of Tom Daschle from a key health care leadership role in the Obama Administration may slow plans for health care reform, one of the first priorities of Obama's new health care team might be to scrap the poorly designed Medicare Part D prescription plan and start over.

The Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the Medicare program, has reported that "insurance companies involved in the Medicare prescription drug program have overcharged subscribers and taxpayers by several BILLION dollars." (capitalization for emphasis).

No one really knows what the overcharges might be because Medicare has failed to do the required audits, reports David Goldstein of McClatchy Newspapers in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Enacted in 2003, Part D was championed by the Bush Administration as prescription cost relief for America's senior citizens. Instead, it's caused more headaches and stomach aches for Medicare recipients than it is worth. Of course, that's good business for the drug companies! Medicare Part D covers nearly 27 million beneficiaries who pay added premiums through their Social Security checks.

Former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker called Part D "...probably the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation since the 1960s... because we promise way more than we can afford to keep." There are well-documented reports that the real cost of the legislation was covered up during congressional consideration in order to muster the votes for passage.

Financial assistance with ever-increasing prescription costs for seniors, and, for that matter, all other Americans, is a worthy goal but there are better-designed, and more cost-efficient, ways to accomplish that.

If you are enrolled in Medicare Part D, post your comments on our Web site and let us know if your experience with Medicare's prescription drug program has been a positive or negative one.

For more information:

http://www.medicare.gov/Default.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Prescription_Drug,_Improvement,_and_Modernization_Act