'Outrage' voiced over loss of SeniorCare program

Democrats weigh in on Bush Administration’s decision to end what most called a monumentally successful program that helped Wisconsin’s senior citizens.

Byron Higgin
Burnett County Sentinel Editor

MADISON-Senior Citizens across Wisconsin have been waiting to hear the fate of SeniorCare, "a monumentally successful program in Wisconsin that provides roughly 103,000 low-income seniors with better drug coverage at a lower cost than the federal government's prescription drug program, "Medicare Part D," as Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin called it.

But the news was all bad last Wednesday as Wisconsin seniors found out when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) decided to terminate SeniorCare. Immediately a cry went out from politicians across the state attacking the President George Bush administration for failing senior citizens.

"This decision, made hastily only days after the Special Committee on Aging held a hearing to urge the preservation of SeniorCare, will bring the program to an end on June 30, 2007," said Sen. Kohl.

He added, "This is a short-sighted decision by the Administration to kill a successful program that saves money and simplifies healthcare for seniors.

"During our Aging Committee hearing last week we provided plenty of evidence that SeniorCare offers superior prescription drug coverage to that of Medicare Part D, costs taxpayers less, and seniors in Wisconsin widely prefer to keep it," said Kohl.

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