As “Donut Hole” Checks Go Out, Will Republican Slate Campaign as Death Panel?

Reality is beginning to overpower Right-Wing dogma, as Pima County seniors are about to get help paying for prescription drugs because of health care reform President Obama signed into law.

Arizonans heard lie after lie during the health care debate, when Republicans staged a PR campaign rooted exclusively in deception.

Now, Arizona seniors are going to start receiving $250 checks, as a down payment on helping fill the “Donut Hole,” which leaves seniors without prescription drug coverage until they pay $3,510 out-of-pocket. Medicare Part D pays for 75 percent of the first $2,830.

These monthly checks will automatically go to seniors who enter this financial no-man's land. Next year, seniors will get a 75 percent discount on generic drugs and 50 percent on brand-names.

Pima County Democratic Party Chair Jeff Rogers wonders if Republican candidates still support repealing this benefit.

“If the Republicans running for office plan to repeal Comprehensive Health Care Reform, they should go to Sun City Vistoso and Green Valley and explain why they want to pull the plug on grandma's life-saving drug coverage,” Rogers said. “Health care reform saves lives and that's what we're going to see as it takes hold.”

Some 72,000 Arizona seniors have struggled for years to cover these costs and those who couldn’t afford life-saving medication have been, until now, left to fend for themselves.

“It will be interesting to see how they backpedal from common sense on this one. The GOP slate would essentially be running as a 'death panel,' if they pledge to keep life-saving drugs too expensive for some seniors to afford,” Rogers said.

###