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The Forsyth County News
Opinion
This is a page of opinions — ours, yours and others.
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Medicare drug discount
card will give benefits
By U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce
For the Forsyth County News
WASHINGTON — Rich¬
ard France lives in Columbus,
Ohio. About a year ago, his
physician prescribed him
Coumadin for hypertension,
and he now spends approxi¬
mately $150 every three
months on this prescription
drug.
On Monday, France had
plans to shop around and sign
up for Medicare's new prescrip¬
tion drug discount card with the
anticipation of lowering the
cost of his Coumadin.
The new drug discount
cards will help millions of
Medicare beneficiaries like
Richard save money on their
medicines — providing critical
assistance to seniors across the
country.
Seniors can sign up for the
cards starting in May and begin
using the discount cards on
June 1.
Annual fees for the cards
will range from $0 to $30, and
the government will pay the
enrollment fees for those sen¬
iors who qualify for low
income assistance. In addition,
these financially strapped sen¬
iors will receive up to $600,
both this year and next, to assist
with the cost of their medi¬
cines.
According to the
Department of Health and
Human Services, cardholders
can expect to receive discounts
between 10 to 25 percent on
their prescription costs.
Already, more than 70
organizations have received
Medicare approval to offer dis¬
count cards which will all carry
the Medicare seal of approval.
This logo deems the card as
Medicare-endorsed and ensures
specific government-backed
consumer protections. With
many choices available, seniors
can compare different cards to
find one that best meets their
individual health care needs.
There are two easy ways to
determine which card is the
best card. The official Medicare
Web site, www.medicare.gov,
provides customized informa¬
tion based on the particular
needs of each senior about the
differences in drug coverage,
pharmacy participation and
prices among the available
cards.
If a senior is comfortable
using the Internet, this Web site
is an excellent resource to do it
yourself. A senior's family or
volunteers at churches, senior
On your payroll
CITY COUNCIL
Mayor, H. Ford Gravitt
RO. Box 3177, Cumming, GA 30028; (770) 887-4342
Mayor Pro-Tern, Lewis Ledbetter
205 Mountain Brook Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-3019
Ralph Perry
1420 Pilgrim Rd„ Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-7474
Quincy Holton
103 Hickory Ridge Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-5279
Rupert Sexton
705 Pine Lake Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-4332
John Pugh
10813th St., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-3342
COUNTY COMMIS SIONERS
Charles Laughinghouse, Post 1
3550 Rosewicke Dr., Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 886-7937; office, (770) 886-2810
David “AJ.” Pritchett, Post 2
4840 Chesterfield Court, Suwanee, GA 30024
(404) 392-6983; office, (770) 886-2809
John A "Jack” Club Conway, Post 3
6130 Polo Dr., Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 886-9226; (770) 886-2807
Maude Kreager, Post 4
9810 Kings Rd„ Gainesville, GA 30506
office, (770) 886-2806
EddteTaykx,Post5
4195 Momingside Dr., Cumming, GA 30041
(770)886-2802 ^
centers and civic organizations
with Internet knowledge can
also help walk someone
through the process. The Web
site already contains informa¬
tion on the cards, and will be
updated as new information
becomes available.
However, if a senior does
not have access to the Internet
or is uncomfortable using it,
similar assistance is available
by phone, toll free, at 1-800
MEDICARE. Seniors can also
ask the Medicare operator to
send them a personalized book¬
let of this information to assist
in their drug card decision.
Before a senior logs on to
www.medicare.gov or calls 1-
800-MEDICARE to begin this
process, he or she should have
the following information
ready:
— What prescription med¬
ications you are taking, includ¬
ing the brand or generic name
of the drug, your recommended
dosage and frequency taken,
All of this information can be
found on your prescription bot
ties or the printout your phar¬
macy provides when you pick
up your prescriptions.
— If you're a senior with
annual income below $12,569
as an individual or $16,862 as a
couple, you might be eligible
for financial assistance. If you
think you qualify for assis
tance, income statements or tax
forms can be helpful when fig
uring out your monthly income.
Once a senior decides
which card is best, he or she
can contact the company to
sign up for that particular card,
When the enrollment form has
been approved, the company
will send her a Medicare
approved drug discount card,
The company will also send
specific materials like a mem
ber handbook, discount drug
list, pharmacy provider directo
ry and other information.
The availability of these
cards will provide tangible ben
efits to millions of seniors,
Sponsoring organizations are
using the cards not only to pro
vide discounts on drugs, but
also to link card enrollees into
other available disease manage
ment and wellness resources to
help them better manage their
own health care.
Rep. Deborah Pryce, ^
a
sixth-term Ohio Republican
from Columbus, heads the
House Republican Confer¬
ence. Readers may write her
at 223 Cannon House Office
Building, Washington, DC
20515.
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Let freedom ring May 6th
National Day of Rrayer
Is America headed for another close election?
WASHINGTON — Mat
thew Dowd, 42, works in an
anonymous, red-brick high
r * se ' n Virginia suburbs of
Washington, a building that
bears no hint on the outside
that it houses the George W.
Bush re-election campaign on
the inside.
Through the glass doors
there is the usual security —
friendly guards with large
sidearms and bevies of
young and earnest campaign
workers dressed in strict busi
ness attire: ties knotted,
slacks pressed. With the
exception, that is, of Matthew
Dowd,
Dowd is the campaign's
chief strategist, and he is
dressed this day as if he were
about to attend a picnic. He is
wearing a dark, shapeless
sweater and* dark washpants.
He can't wait for the election
to be over so he can get back
to his home in Austin, Texas,
and he seems to be dressing
in anticipation of that day.
He is sitting in a small,
windowless conference room
that has a smiling, color pic
ture of Laura Bush on one
wall and a whiteboard that is
scrawled with an unintelligi
ble formula, no doubt for a
Bush victory on Nov. 2, on
the other,
The long-term outlook is
good," Dowd says. "We've
made it harder for Kerry to
convey a message about the
president to the public. They
want to drive our approval
down. But we'ye cut his net
positives in half."
This is the world that
Dowd lives in, the world of
political polling: approval rat
ings, favorable/unfavorable
ratings and right-
NATIONAL LEGISLATORS
< U.S. Sen. Zell Miller
Russell Senate Office Building, Room C-3
Washington, D.C. 20510
v* - * r (202) 224-3643; Fax: (202) 228-2090
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss >
1019 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 224-3521
< U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, 10th District
2437 Rayburn House Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20515
M _ Gainesville: RO. Box 1015, Gainesville, GA 30503
t m Gainesville, 5211; Fax: (202) (770) 225-8272 535-2592; Washington: (202) 225
U.S. Rep. John Linder, 7th District >
1727 Longworth House Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20515-1011
Washington: (202) 225-4272; Fax: (202) 225-4696
-
STATE LEGISLATORS
< Sen. David Shafer, 48th District
109 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
(404)651-7738
Sen. Casey Cagle, 49th District >
421 State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334 1 *9 £
Telephone: (404) 656-6578; (fax) (404)
651-6768
* Sen. Dan Moody, 27th District
. t <
(770) 495-3127;
Offic^ (404) 463-8055
’ ■*. Roger
Simon
COLUMNIST
tracks/ wrong-tracks.
Both campaigns seek not
just to define their own can¬
didate, but to define their
opponent. From the Bush
campaign's point of view it
goes something like: The
president is a strong, wartime
leader, who will safeguard
the economy and the home¬
land, and John Kerry is a
flip-flopper, a waffler and a
liar.
Just as the Bush campaign
succeeded to a certain extent
in portraying A1 Gore as a
fabricator in 2000 (Did he
really invent the Internet?), it
now believes it is succeeding
in portraying Kerry the same
way.
The importance of this is
obvious: If you can’t believe
Kerry about his Vietnam
service (Did he really throw
away his medals?), then you
can't believe him about
George W. Bush, either.
"Voters filter out what
Kerry says about the presi¬
dent, because they don't trust
Kerry," Dowd says.
While Dowd is quick to
not take full credit for this —
"Kerry has done a lot to him¬
self," he says, "saying and
doing things then re-enforce
negative preconceptions" —
there is no doubt the Bush
campaign has played a role in
shaping public perceptions
about Kerry.
Yet it is hard to detect any
air of great exuberance when
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS — Thursday, May 6,2004
one talks to Bush's people.
They believe he will win, but
nobody is predicting a land¬
slide. Unless you redefine
landslide.
"A 4-5 point victory on
Election Day would be a
landslide for the kind of
country we are in today,"
Dowd says. "If the election
were held today, it would be
a Bush victory by a couple of
points, 51-49."
The Democrats say this is
nonsense and point to a
recent CBS News/New York
Times poll, in which only 36
percent of those interviewed
believed the country was on
the right track while 55 per¬
cent believed it was on the
wrong track.
Dowd is not worried by
this, however. He has his own
polls. And his own strategy.
"The race is close and will
remain close due to the divid¬
ed and polarized nature of the
country," he says. "You will
get 45 to 46 percent of the
vote no matter what you are
for or against. This is not like
the Reagan years when you
had 20 percent of the vote
you could move. Today, there
is about 8 percent you can
move. Our range is very
small. We have two goals:
Motivate our base on
Election Day and get a share
of the swing vote."
Though just who makes
up the swing vote in America
is a matter of some disagree¬
ment, Dowd identifies it as
three groups: Suburban mar¬
ried working women;
younger working-class
males; and Hispanics.
He expects these groups
to swing back and forth as
the months proceed — giving
Sen. Renee Unterman, 45th District >
(770) 466-1507;
Office (404) 463-1368
< Rep. Tom Knox, 14th District
Legislative Office Building, Room 504
18 Capitol Square, Atlanta, GA 30334
(404) 656-0188, or (770) 887-0400, law office
Rep. Jan Jones, 38th District >
412 Legislative Office Building,
Atlanta GA 30334
(404) 656-0137
< Rep. Jack Murphy, 14th District
Legislative office Building,
-s Room 612, Atlanta GA 30334
K, (404) 656-0325; (770) 781-9319, home
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Ann Crow
96 Barker Rd., Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 887-9640; acrow@forsyth.k12.ga.us
Paul Kreager
9810 Kings Rd„ Gainesville, GA 30506
(770) 889-9971; pkreager@forsyth.k12.ga.us
Nancy Roche
7840 Chestnut Hill Rd., Cumming, GA 30041
(770) 889-0229; nnoche@forsyth.k12.ga.us
Rebecca K. Dowell
2030 Commonwealth Place, Cumming, GA 30041
(770) 844-0830; rdowell@forsyth.k12.gaus
Chairman Jeffrey Stephens
RO. Box 169, Cumming, GA 30028
(770) 889-1470; iftephens@torsyth.k12.ga.us
PAGE 9A
Kerry a boost in the polls
after the Democratic National
Convention in late July and
then giving Bush a boost
after the Republican National
Convention in late August.
"Then it is 60 days to the fin¬
ish," he says. ("I have 10
brothers and sisters, and they
split about the way the coun¬
try does," Dowd, a former
Democrat, once said. "On
any given day it is 50-50.")
The number that Dowd
watches closely is the presi¬
dent's job approval rating.
"The incumbent president
usually gets a vote right at
his approval rating," Dowd
says. "If we are at a 51 to 52
approval (on Election Day),
we will win by 1 or 2 points.
If the president is at a 49 per¬
cent approval, he will get 50
percent of the vote, especial¬
ly with a third-party candi¬
date in the race."
The most recent Gallup
Poll shows Bush with a 52
percent approval rating, the
ABC News/Washington Post
poll has him at 51 percent,
the Pew Research Center poll
has him at 48 percent, and
the CBS New/New York
Times poll released last week
has him at 46 percent. As the
Times explained, however,
"In statistical terms, these are
virtually the same."
Which ought to keep
things interesting. So inter¬
esting. in fact, might we not
have another election where
the winner is not known
weeks after Election Day?
"We are all watching that,"
Dowd says. "Closely."
Roger Simon is a national¬
ly syndicated columnist. He
can be e-mailed at Write
Roger@aol.com.