The May 15 deadline for seniors to enroll in the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit is quickly approaching. Despite my efforts to push back this deadline, it unfortunately does not appear this will happen.
Those who miss this deadline will not be able to sign up again until November and will then face higher premiums as a penalty for late enrollment.
I encourage seniors to consult with their local pharmacist about the variety of available plans. Though some seniors question the need for this program because of their good health, it may be needed at a later stage in life. Unfortunately, they will be burdened with a permanent penalty fee.
In addition to efforts of local pharmacists and volunteers, there are other resources available to assist families in making this important decision:
-- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
1-800-MEDICARE
www.Medicare.gov
-- Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas (SHICK)
1-800-860-5260
http://www.agingkansas.org/shick/
Thanks to our Kansas pharmacists, CMS staff, and other local outreach volunteers for their tireless efforts in educating people about this program. As we near the May 15 deadline, I encourage seniors to seek answers to their questions and determine if enrollment is in their best interests.
Rep. Jerry Moran
Kansas First District
Letter produced more heat than light
Stan Thiessen's letter (May 3 issue) reminded me of the problems we have in our community. I can't speak for Marion, or any other neighboring community, but Stan, I will speak on behalf of myself.
Your letter was based on your perceptions of what occurred at the meeting. Were you there to see and hear what went on? I understand you weren't; therefore, you could not possibly have felt sincerity or emotion, or have contributed your thoughts.
I do agree with you on one point: consultants seem to drain good intentions of time and money. In this day and age, we hire consultants whether or not they are needed, and sometimes we just need to get working ourselves. This is about as far as I can agree with you.
Stan, the issue that night was not on capturing the "entrepreneurial spirit of those in the county." The topic stated by Commissioner Dan Holub was "Does Marion County need to develop the position of a county economic director?"
It was not for me or any other person in that room to start our own agendas or to detract from what our commissioners were trying to accomplish that night.
As for your agenda, I have visited with our mayor about capturing our local entrepreneurs and helping them to become more successful. I wish there was an easier way to help locals get their businesses successfully operating.
The unfortunate question asked is, "How much money will the city give me to operate my business?"
The definition of an entrepreneur is a person who organizes, operates and assumes the risk of business ventures. There are people out there who want to organize and operate a business, but want the taxpayers to assume the financial risk.
You say Marion County has squandered numerous opportunities for business growth. How many is numerous? To which businesses are you referring? If the Hillsboro City Council and Hillsboro Development Corp. had specific examples, we could identify those particular problems and work to correct them.
Such open-ended statements are vague, and provide us with no foundation on which to act.
What specific reasons did these numerous businesses give that turned them off to Hillsboro? Hearing specifics would enable the city council and HDC to begin making corrections.
Now to your "case in point." Saying that Hillsboro has "successfully stolen" the idea of a business incubator from Marion will hardly create positive cooperation and communication between these two communities.
The concept was not stolen; HDC has been working with Dr. Vincent at Kansas Sate University about developing his plan for an incubator. Therefore we must not assume that, when put into place, it will produce the desired results. I am certainly hoping that HDC will be 100 percent successful in their pursuits.
You also raised the issue that our two communities are wasting time and money by having two pools and two hospitals. The advantage to having a pool in Hillsboro is that a child can ride his bike and spend a few hours at the pool whenever he or she chooses.
Suppose our two towns decided to share a pool. Whose children would be able to ride bikes and whose children could only swim if they could find transportation accommodations for the 10-mile trek?
I believe both of our communities have recognized and acted on the needs of their respective community. In addition, both of these new structures should help to increase the appeal of our county to outside investors.
Hospitals are another issue. A person once told me that a school and a hospital are the two things a community needs in order to survive. Lose one and your community will slowly die.
There seems to be some merit to that. I think both communities realize the importance of both of your "parallels" that we worked hard to preserve and to improve.
Now let's go to Rice County. I really believe Hillsboro is every bit as nice as Lyons or Sterling. There is nothing that those communities have that Hillsboro does not have.
To the Marion City Council and Marion County Commissioners: Stan speaks for himself and not the people in Hillsboro city government or in other leadership roles. His accusations only make one more fire to be put out before more patching and progress can continue.
