The Truth About Norm Coleman's Record on Medicare
An Opponent's Ad SAYS…
Don't be fooled by Norm Coleman's attacks. It's Norm Coleman who voted to make it illegal for Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.
The Facts Say, that's WRONG…
New York Times: Norm Coleman Voted To "Allow Medicare To Negotiate Lower Drug Prices For Millions Of Older Americans, A Practice Now Forbidden By Law." "A pillar of the Democratic political program tumbled today when Republicans in the Senate blocked a proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for millions of older Americans, a practice now forbidden by law. ... The Republican senators who joined Democrats in voting to take up the drug price negotiation bill were Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Susan Collins of Maine, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Gordon H. Smith of Oregon, Olympia J. Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania." (Robert Pear, "Bill To Let Medicare Negotiate Drug Prices Is Blocked," The New York Times, April 18, 2007)
Senate Vote 132 on S 3: Medicare Prescription Drug Negotiation: Senator Coleman voted aye, motion rejected 55-42 (required 3/5 of Senate): (http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00132)
An Opponent's Ad SAYS…
That's a $300 billion giveaway to the drug companies. No wonder they've given Coleman more money than any politician in Minnesota history.
The Facts Say, that's WRONG…
Senator Coleman is a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and the ranking member on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He has worked hard on issues related to seniors, and was proud to support the first ever Prescription Drug Benefit program in 2003. Because of this program, over 575,000 Minnesotans and 39 million Americans have prescription drug coverage. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, this plan saves seniors an average of $1,100 a year. That may not be a lot of money to Al Franken, but it sure is to the hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans who are getting this coverage for the first time. And according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, this program has approval ratings as high as 80%. Those are real results based on fact.
Senate Vote 262 - S 1: Prescription Drug Benefit - Passage June 27, 2003 - Passed 76-21 (http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=1&vote=00262)
Senate Vote 459 - HR 1: Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit - Conference Report November 25, 2003- Passed 54-44 (http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=1&vote=00459)
An Opponent's Ad SAYS…
Norm Coleman: ripping off Medicare and you.
The Facts Say, that's WRONG…
Senator Coleman is the former Chairman and current ranking member on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and has led the way on exposing waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare:
Exposed Tax Cheating Medicare and Medicaid Providers: Building on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation's successful investigation into tax-delinquent federal contractors led by Senator Coleman, the Subcommittee examined whether Medicare and Medicaid providers were cheating on their taxes. In 2007, the Subcommittee held two hearings that revealed that more than 21,000 Medicare Part B providers owed $1 billion in unpaid taxes, and more than 30,000 Medicaid providers owed more than $1 billion in unpaid taxes. In 2008, the Subcommittee released another report, finding that 27,000 Medicare providers (not just Part B) owed more than $2 billion in back-taxes.
Brought About Oversight of Medicare, Exposed Dead Doctors Scam: The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, under the leadership of Senator Coleman, conducted a multi-year oversight investigation into the Medicare program and specifically its claims processing operations. The investigation identified serious flaws in the Medicare DME claims processing and supplier enrollment programs. For instance, the Subcommittee revealed that Medicare paid claims amounting to nearly $100 million, even though the claims contained the identification numbers of dead doctors. The Subcommittee also revealed a sting operation, in which GAO, at the request of the Subcommittee, established two phony companies and obtained Medicare billing numbers, even though they were completely fictitious entities. The inquiry has so far resulted in one PSI staff report, one GAO report, and one hearing.
Instituting Penalties for Nor Paying Taxes: As a result of his PSI hearings on tax-delinquent Medicare providers, Senator Coleman introduced S. 1307, the Medicare Provider Accountability Act, that requires CMS to levy payments to doctors and other Medicare providers that have unpaid federal tax debts. This legislation was included in the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (H.R. 6331) which became law on July 15, 2008. The Senate was able to successfully override the President's veto on July 15, 2008 with Senator Coleman's full support.
(http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00169 )