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GUEST: Toby Chaudhuri, Communitions Director of Campaign for America’s Future

As the Monday, May 15th deadline for enrollment in the federal Medicare prescription drug plan looms nearer, many are calling for an extension. The Bush administration has rejected calls for extending Monday’s deadline citing that some 86% of seniors have prescription coverage as a result of enrollment in Medicare’s Part D, which is the prescription plan. However, critics assail the administration’s numerical claims as being inflated by 5.8 million people. Seniors who fail to enroll before May 15th face delayed coverage and will pay a permanent penalty equal to one percent of their premiums. Meanwhile, a new report released by the Campaign for America’s Future shows that Latinos are at a higher risk of missing the enrollment deadline. Citing language and economic barriers, the report notes that nearly one million taxpaying Latinos are still not enrolled in Medicare’s Part D.

For more information, please visit www.ourfuture.org.