CMS should not make any changes to Medicare Part D

Medicare Part D has saved taxpayer dollars by replacing price controls with market discipline and provides medications to the neediest of Americans at a lower cost than the old system. The rules proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in January would have increased costs for providers and beneficiaries, limited competition and decreased seniors’ access to vital prescription drugs.

While the rules have been pulled for now, most experts agree that similar changes will be considered in the future (“New HHS secretary should promise no post-election changes to Medicare Part D,” by Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Angela Boothe, May 6)
Medicare Part D is not broken.

{mosads}Part D has proven that a modern, free market model can replace a system of price controls and provide medications to the neediest of Americans, all at a lower cost than the old system. The CMS should keep its hands off Medicare Part D. Instead of foisting unnecessary changes on an already successful program, legislators should be using the successful market mechanisms at the heart of Part D as a model for other bidding processes in Medicare.

Chicago

Act would restore airline ticket cost transparency

From Cpt. Lee Moak, president of the Air Line Pilots Association International

Full transparency in airfare advertisement promotes the fair treatment of consumers and is essential for a robust and globally competitive aviation industry, (“Separating fact from fiction on airline pricing,” May 6).

The bipartisan Transparent Airfares Act of 2014 (H.R. 4156) seeks to restore this transparency by allowing consumers to see the full breakdown of their ticket costs. The bill would help to remove the often-misplaced blame that airlines receive regarding airfare increases by highlighting government-imposed taxes and fees.

Because extra fees and taxes are currently hidden from consumers, air travel appears to be less competitively priced than other forms of transportation, such as buses and rail. This anti-consumer regulation enables the government’s increased taxes to effectively go unnoticed by those who pay them.

The Air Line Pilots Association International, Airlines for America and a growing number of bipartisan lawmakers who support this bill realize that at a time when U.S. airlines are forced to compete with foreign carriers on an unlevel playing field, fair U.S. aviation policy is paramount for the millions of jobs that the U.S. aviation industry supports.

Washington, D.C.

Dems should boycott House select committee 


From Neil Wollman

Regarding your May 7 “Dems line up in favor of Benghazi boycott” piece, Democrats should refuse to participate in the new House select committee to investigate the Benghazi attack. How many inquiries are needed? Why legitimize a new attempt to smear the administration? Past presentation of Benghazi smoking guns, like the current White House email, have seemed more like duds.

Instead, while the select committee meets, Democrats should hold their own special committee hearing to get to the bottom of what really matters to Americans: How can we have the best economy? How can we boost job growth and wages? How can we reduce economic inequality? Such a hearing would also contrast Republicans’ interest in beating a dead horse to Democrats’ interest in our everyday lives.

And this might be an opportunity to add a new term to our vocabulary. One can “Benghazi” a political position; i.e., for political gain, one can continually raise a concern for which there is little or no evidence. 
Frankly, I have been “Benghazied” enough.

North Manchester, Ind.

Media ignoring the true story behind Benghazi

From Jim Black

We are told by the Democrat talk-show guests that the Benghazi investigation is a GOP “witch hunt” that has been investigated many times and that Speaker John Boehner’s decision to form a new select committee to continue the investigation is low on interest, or a non-issue, with the American people.

Of course it is! Why wouldn’t it be? The mainstream media has all but ignored the story, and those who trust ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN et al. for important stories don’t know the facts and how there has been a massive cover-up by this administration to keep the truth from the public.

The reason for the select committee is because five previous committee hearings could not get the information requested. But the latest emails obtained by court order now reveal that the White House was instrumental in guiding the course of action and talking points, and that it knows much more than it’s admitted. Since lies and cover-ups are the current theme emanating from this administration, it is totally reasonable to think that it has been dishonest from the beginning on the Benghazi disaster.

The public must realize that the greatest enemy serving them is the mainstream media, which doesn’t want the truth to be known about this story and anything else that will show this administration as being the most corrupt ever. If the truth ever be known, the whole Democratic structure will tumble. Democrats are frantic now that a select committee will be formed and will hold nothing back in trying to demonize Republicans.