The American Spectator

The Public Policy

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Times article, many people did not sign up because they erroneously believed that doing so meant they would not be able to choose their own doctor.

Interestingly, a debate has broken out at TPM Cafe over whether to extend the May 15 deadline to sign up for the Prescription Drug benefit. A similar debate occurred in 1966 over Part B, with Congress and President Johnson eventually agreeing to extend it two months. Despite the extension, about a million seniors failed to sign up.

It doesn't take much imagination to see that had the Prescription Drug benefit been designed as Steadman wished, it would have simply created different problems. For example, had the benefit been opt-out instead of opt-in, undoubtedly many seniors who would have preferred to maintain private coverage likely would have failed to realize that they needed to opt-out of the Prescription Drug benefit and would have subsequently lost their private coverage.

Close to 40 million seniors are eligible for the Prescription Drug benefit. It is impossible to enroll that many people in a new program without serious administrative headaches and mass confusion among potential enrollees. To believe otherwise is to live in fantasyland. But who knows? Maybe the folks at NCPSSM and TPM Cafe own cats that actually bark.

David Hogberg is a senior research analyst at the Capital Research Center. He also hosts his own website, Hog Haven.

topics:
Social Security, Law, Medicare