While a Cheer might be appropriate for efforts by U.S. Rep. Phil English R-3rd, to help constituents better understand the newly available Medicare discount drug cards, a Jeer is more appropriate when considering the newly expanded Medicare benefit.

English, who traveled to Butler with a health specialist from the Center for Medicare Services, met with the public in American Legion Post 778 on Friday afternoon to answer questions about the confusing drug discount card program.

English is not the only lawmaker leaving Washington in recent weeks to help voters understand the new drug discount program. While it is appropriate that members of Congress respond with answers and expert's advice to the many questions seniors have about the new program - it should not be necessary.

If English deserves a Cheer for helping constituents understand the discount card program, then Congress as a whole deserves a Jeer for producing such a confusing program.

Despite the positive spin from President Bush and many in Congress surrounding the drug discount program, many problems have surfaced only weeks after the discount cards became effective on June 1.

Generally, the program is too complicated. There are 73 different discount cards offering a variety of different discounts on a variety of popular prescription drugs.

In Pennsylvania, the situation is complicated by the fact that a pre-existing drug discount program, known as PACE or PACENET, geared toward low-income seniors offers generally better discounts than the new Medicare discount cards.

The newly available Medicare-approved discount cards are temporary, and will only be used until 12006, when full Medicare drug benefits take effect.

It appears that Congress and the Bush administration did not spend enough time thinking through how the program would be received by seniors. The other possibility, looking more likely all the time, is that the Medicare discount drug legislation was written to provide more benefits to the big drug companies than to America's senior citizens.