Congressman Lincoln Davis letter to Secretary Bodman on Medicare Part D Subsidy
Here is Congressman Lincoln Davis' recent letter to Department of Energy Secretary Bodman about DOE withholding Part D Medicare funds.
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September 21, 2007
Secretary Samuel Bodman
United States Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585
Dear Secretary Bodman:
I am writing this letter on behalf of several of my constituents, who are retirees from Department of Energy facilities in Oak Ridge, regarding their continued efforts to obtain an increase in their pension benefits. Several constituents as well as members of the Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees (CORRE) have contacted my office requesting additional assistance with this issue.
In recent correspondence forwarded to my office, representatives from CORRE have also expressed their concerns about the possible withholding of Part D Medicare funds from contractors for partial payments of their costs of maintaining drug benefits for retirees.
Since taking office, I have worked with my colleagues in the Congress to address CORRE’s pension issues as well as other issues important to the Oak Ridge facilities. It is my hope that through working with contractors, the Department of Energy, my congressional colleagues and all CORRE members, this situation can be resolved in the very near future.
I would respectfully request that the Department of Energy revisit the retirees’ concerns about their pension benefits and attempt to resolve this issue in such a manner that provides fair and equitable treatment to all concerned. I would also request any information you can provide which would address concerns expressed by members of CORRE about the Part D Medicare funds.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future. Please do not hesitate to contact my office with any additional questions regarding this issue.
Sincerely,
Lincoln Davis
Member of Congress TN-04
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We retirees appreciate very much the initiative of Congressman Davis. The problem, however, is that DOE takes 3 to 9 months to reply to these letters. DOE Headquarters needs to make quicker response to these requests that deal with DOE's unfair treatment of people.
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:38 am
I appreciate very much Senator Corker’s request to DOE on the behalf of the Oak Ridge retirees. However, given DOE’s past predilection to misinformation (even to senators), I would suggest everyone read it carefully.
As to the past practice of a 6 to 9 month delay by DOE, it is just another application of the operational policy: Defer, delay and death will be the solution; our deaths that is.
The retiree’s only recourse is to write more letters and apply more pressure. Submissions and comments to the CORRE blog are also a good means of expression of concerns. The blog contents should be forwarded to our legislators.
Al Brooks
October 3rd, 2007 at 10:59 am
I certainly appreciate Congressman Davis’ letter to Mr. Bodman, the head of the Department of Energy. I hope that my Congressman will push for a reply from DOE in a reasonable timeframe and not tolerate the 6-9 month delays that we have recently seen from DOE. The Oak Ridge contractor retirees have been stonewalled by DOE far too long, in fact, as best I can tell, since Mr. Bodman became the head of DOE.
October 3rd, 2007 at 12:16 pm
DOE ought to reply to a Congressman’s letter in not less than 30 days. Our Congressman should not tolerate it and should criticize the DOE management for it on the floor of the Congress. Why don’t they? The answer would be interesting.