Well, That Didn't Take Long

We haven't quite completed two weeks of the new year yet, and already the new Medicare prescription drug program is in a shambles. Who would've ever expected that?

Two weeks into the new Medicare prescription drug program, many of the nation's sickest and poorest elderly and disabled people are being turned away or overcharged at pharmacies, prompting more than a dozen states to declare health emergencies and pay for their life-saving medicines.

Computer glitches, overloaded telephone lines and poorly trained pharmacists are being blamed for mix-ups that have resulted in the worst of unintended consequences: As many as 6.4 million low-income seniors, who until Dec. 31 received their medications free, suddenly find themselves navigating an insurance maze of large deductibles, co-payments and outright denial of coverage.

So far, according to NPR, nineteen states have agreed to cover the cost of necessary drugs for their seniors, but it's not like they're made of money, either. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for one, has said he wants to be reimbursed for the $70 million California is spending for two weeks' worth of medication. Good luck with that.

For good measure, The Washington Post has reminded us that this program was "hailed as President Bush's signature domestic achievement." The number of seniors affected, 6.4 million, is a large number that has the potential to get some notice (even if, as a class, low-income seniors don't have the visibility of the Hollywood C-List). Although most of the Bush Administration's failures aren't exactly swept under the carpet, we do somehow put them into a sort of limbo where we can keep them hidden, and then we agree to mostly look the other way. We can't say we're unaware of problems such as the war in Iraq or the fate of New Orleans, but as a nation we're--for the time being, at least--content to pay them as little heed as possible in the hope that they'll get better or go away. If the Medicare drug debacle continues for any amount of time, that's more than two percent of our population, spread throughout the country at large, who are affected. Will that get our attention?