After a series of embarrassing debacles and failures to respond in 2005, the Bush administration hoped to ring in the New Year on a positive note. The expansion of Medicare drug benefits, the most significant development in the program since its 1965 conception, was meant to win over lower-income and senior populations which were most effected by the letdowns of the previous year.

But underprivileged customers who switched from Medicaid to the new Medicare plans  across the country have faced severe complications when attempting to purchase prescription drugs under the new plan. Some were told that instead of a deductible of $5 dollars, they owed $250 or that they were not listed as Medicare participants at all. Pharmacists’ attempts at contacting insurance companies or the Medicare line were met with up to four hour waiting periods or no response at all.

While the federal government promises that it is rushing to synchronize the enrollment lists for insurance companies, it’s the state governments that are picking up the slack. Over a dozen states have stepped in to assist their most vulnerable residents. Arkansas declared a state of emergency.  Minnesota and Illinois offered to be the “payer-of-last-resort”.  Ohio, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Vermont also announced that they would help those in need until the federal government organizes the prescription plan coverage.

Although the Bush Administration did finally step in to tell insurance companies that they must provide at least a 30-day supply of medication to beneficiaries at a cost of no more than $2 for generic drugs and $5 for brand-name drugs, in many cases the response is too little too late.

The concern over the issue has been expressed by both Democrats and Republicans. Senate Minority leader Harry Reid and 34 other Democrats have penned a letter  inquiring about the reasons why preventive measures for the current pitfalls were not planned, while many Republican governors of affected states have questioned their party’s preparation.

The handling of the Medicare drug benefits, which the Administration has quoted as being one of its priorities for the year, is a potential problem for the Republicans. But like other major mistakes on the part of this administration- over 1,000 dead after “Mission Accomplished” or FEMA’s sluggish response to Katrina- it too will soon blow over.

America’s willingness to forgive and forget mistakes it would at any other time be in outrage over has been a disturbing trend for the past five years. While instant uproar may come from those directly affected by the errors, it lasts only long enough for network news and political columnists to get their feed and is almost immediately gone. Maybe we’ve learned to discard the bitter memories of mistakes past in order to make room for the ones we know are surely coming.

But when it comes to the polls, and eventually to voting, our judgment of the Administration should not be based on current events, but rather on our cumulative experience. The only way to achieve this effect is if Americans stay true to their post 9/11 promise of unity.

Instead of seeing the neglect and lack of concern on the part of the Administration as an offense against a geographic, socio-economic or age group, we should begin analyzing preventable crises as transgressions of a government against its constituents. Those of us who are not affected by the Medicare predicament directly should be equally as outraged as those who are, and not cease to remember it next time we visit the ballot box.