Grassley's LIVE viewer call-in cable television program gives Iowans the opportunity each month to express opinions and ask questions of Grassley on any subject. To participate in the program, Iowans should call 515-266-2979. The next "Ask Your Senator: A Live Town Meeting" will air on Thursday, December 18, from 7-7:30 p.m. (CST). The program airs regularly on the third Thursday of each month on cable outlets across Iowa.
In January, Grassley was elected chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging. Throughout the year, he has been working to improve the quality of life and address the anxieties of older Americans.
Most recently, Grassley sent a letter to the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) requesting information on how HCFA plans to reform its prescription drug payment methodology. Grassley's action this week was prompted by the release of a new HCFA Office of Inspector General report detailing systemic overpayments for prescription drugs totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars for last year alone.
"In the cases where Medicare does pay for drugs, it is a Part B payment. That means the beneficiary must share in the cost. So, when Medicare overpays, the beneficiary's out-of-pocket expenses go up unnecessarily as well," said Grassley. "I simply don't understand why a payment system has been allowed to exist which pays different amounts for the same drug and where the price bears little or no resemblance to actual wholesale prices."
Grassley also has targeted problems at the Social Security Administration (SSA). An independent audit of the SSA conducted by Price Waterhouse LLP released earlier this month revealed internal control weaknesses at the agency which jeopardize the privacy of personal information. The audit was contracted by the SSA Office of Inspector General and by the General Accounting Office (GAO). In response to this report, Grassley sent a letter to the SSA Commissioner Ken Apfel questioning why these concerns were dismissed by the SSA and asking him to reconsider the recommendations made in the audit. This week, Apfel responded to Grassley by saying the SSA has "asked Price Waterhouse to provide us with additional information on its findings."
"When concerns over the security and privacy of tens of millions of American's personal information are raised by three respected oversight bodies, I would expect the SSA to take those concerns very seriously," said Grassley. During the audit, the SSA admitted that the internal control weaknesses identified by investigators had been exploited at the expense of the public. In one case, for example, over 20 SSA employees were selling personal information, such as an individual's mother's maiden name, to a credit card theft ring. The credit card theives then use this information to activate the cards and charge away, Grassley said.
Another SSA problem for which Grassley recently sought corrective action deals with the year 2000 computer problem and the agency's readiness in handling the so-called ?Millennium Bug.' In November, Grassley released a report by the GAO detailing key risks that remain within the SSA year 2000 computer compliance program. In its first sentence, the report states: "Unless timely corrective action is taken, the Social Security Administration, like other federal agencies, could face critical computer system failures at the turn of the century due to incorrect information processing relating to dates." Grassley said that if this issue is not adequately addressed, disruptions could prevent or delay assistance to millions of individuals.
"This test is not graded on the curve," said Grassley. "You either pass or you fail. So, I want to know if Social Security will be fully prepared when the clock strikes 12:00 a.m., January 1, 2000. We need leadership from the Administration and honesty from the agencies if Congress is going to be able to help fix these problems."
Grassley encouraged all Iowans to ask about these issues or to express other concerns next Thursday evening. "I look forward to discussing these or any other policy issues during my program. It is important for me to hear what is on the minds of Iowans. I invite everyone with access to the program to take this opportunity to play an active role in the process of representative government and call in to the program," he said.
For a listing of the communities in which "Ask Your Senator: A Live Town Meeting" will air, please click the following link - Community Listing.