CHICAGO (May 11, 2006) - With less than five days remaining for seniors to enroll in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, Congressman Bobby L. Rush will have Medicare vendors and exhibitors on hand during his 8^th Annual Congressional Reception in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month on Friday, May 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the Ralph Metcalfe Federal Building (Morrison Room, #331), 77 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago. Doors open at 5:00 p.m.

 “I am vexed by this Administration’s decision to place the burden of understanding complex details of the Medicare drug benefit program on the shoulders of seniors, who are our most fragile population,” said  Rush. “Despite thwarted efforts for an extension, I’m making every effort to get the word out so our seniors can sign up in a Medicare Part D drug program that best meets their needs without penalty. By no means am I satisfied, but I am committed.”

 Congressman Rush, a member of the Subcommittee on Health of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has co-sponsored the Medicare Informed Choice Act of 2005 (H.R. 3861), which provides for an extended period of open enrollment without penalty, allows Medicare beneficiaries to make a one-time change in the prescription program this year and provides protection from loss of employment-based retiree health coverage upon enrollment for Medicare prescription drug programs.  He and fellow Members of the Illinois delegation released a report produced by the House Government Reform Committee, which exposed that the new drug benefit has failed to produce drug discounts for Chicago residents. 

 Congressman Rush has also hosted several Medicare prescription drug benefit program seminars this year for his constituents throughout the district.  

 According to a recent Kaiser poll reported in USA Today (April 26), half of Medicare beneficiaries were unaware of the May 15^th deadline to enroll without penalty.