Reply #4: Democrats: Medicare drug plan confusing seniors

[Judi Lynn]

Democrats: Medicare drug plan confusing seniors
Older Americans need more time to figure out myriad of private options

Saturday, March 25, 2006; Posted: 11:33 a.m. EST (16:33 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Older Americans need another six months to sign up for the Medicare prescription drug benefit, a Democratic congressman, who's also a pharmacist, said Saturday.

Rep. Marion Berry of Arkansas also said the government needs to think long and hard about meaningful Medicare law.

Berry said people eligible for the prescription benefit are confused by the various offerings, and some are even paying more for medicine now than they were before they joined the program.

"We need to extend the sign-up period by six months to give seniors more time to make sense of this benefit, and we need to eliminate the Bush administration's prescription drug tax," Berry said in the Democrats' weekly radio address.
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http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/25/dems.radio.ap/index.html