Kent Conrad: “I will not take all of that time. Let me say this: I voted for the Medicare prescription drug program. I voted for it…”

“I will not take all of that time. Let me say this: I voted for the Medicare prescription drug program. I voted for it because I think it will help a substantial number of my seniors. Also, that legislation contained provisions to make Medicare reimbursement for rural hospitals more equivalent to what urban hospitals receive. In my State, under the old law, our hospitals were receiving about one-half as much to treat the same illness as a more urban hospital. That was in part corrected in the Medicare prescription drug legislation. Let us be frank. The handling of the Medicare prescription drug implementation has been a fiasco from beginning to end. I think every one of us has heard loudly and clearly from our States--I certainly have. I have done nine meetings in my State, including hosting Secretary Leavitt, on this question. It has been botched. The implementation of the Medicare prescription drug bill has been botched. On the day, the initial day, I have never seen such chaos. You couldn't get through on the phones. You couldn't get through on the Internet. You couldn't get accurate information. Cards weren't in people's hands. They automatically enrolled those who were eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid in plans that often didn't cover the drugs that they were on. That is a fact. This was very badly handled by the administration, as badly handled as anything that I have seen in 20 years representing my State in the Senate. It was an absolute fiasco.…”