Too Quick By Far- Fitzgerald Boots One

Sen Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) Fired off a quick shot at Gov Doyle today regarding the mistaken enrollment of about 2100 Wisconsin seniors in Medicare Part D rather than Wisconsin's SeniorCare. Fitz lambasted Doyle for the switch in a Press Release:

"I am appalled that the Doyle Administration would kick more than two thousand
eligible seniors out of the SeniorCare program without notice," Fitzgerald said.
"It is unconscionable that the state would force these seniors into a new
prescription drug program without notice and without offering them any
assistance in selecting the Medicare Part D plan which best suits their needs."

"To forcibly remove eligible seniors from SeniorCare and enroll them in Medicare
without notice, consultation or assistance is beyond comprehension," Fitzgerald said. Governor Doyle should apologize to the 2,200 people, reinstate their SeniorCare benefits and explain publicly why he directed DHFS to take such drastic, indefensible action."

Blogger Brian Fraley piled on Doyle while stating that "...I personally think we're foolishly subsidizing the pharmaceutical industry with some of these programs." Fraley went on to state that the administration was wrong to change the coverage arbitrarily and secretively.

Except it wasn't true. The Doyle administration had been trying to keep the federal program from usurping the benefits of some 2100 Wisconsin seniors for the last month without luck. Their press release posted on Wisopinion.com made this clear. When the facts were made clear to Fitzgerald he issued a statement blaming his office for the confusion and offering his help to resolve the issue.

I think that they'll do just fine without him.

Update: This post has been edited due to a factual error. I made the error. I corrected the error. I apologize to Tom Reynolds for stating that the press release was his.