On July 21, a North Dakota Insurance Department TV and radio commercial aired across the state. In the commercial, Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm states, "I help explain the assistance available to North Dakotans from the State Health Insurance Counseling Program and Prescription Connection for North Dakota."

So, what is wrong with this picture? This really sounds good, except - have you ever applied for public assistance of any kind? The eligibility requirements are so high that you will never qualify for any assistance. It doesn't really matter how much you are counseled or told what drugs you need, if you can't afford them. This is a self-serving scheme legalized by Congress, using a lot of tax dollars to promote the appointed insurance commissioner and a program for which very few people can qualify for.

This is particularly cruel and unusual to tell old people to contact the government for assistance, only to discover that you must first be a blind, disabled 65-year-old mother with children at home under the age of 18 in order to qualify. Additionally, you must fill out a 30-page report about every dime you have in your pocket, and birthday gifts you might have received, any income from the sale of personal property, or babysitting income. The government can be none too careful when doling out tax dollars to the poor. Yet Congress considers it a community service to spent beaucoup amounts of tax dollars for programs with the eligibility bar so high, that only a handful of people qualify.

The money would be so much better spent by giving it to doctors and hospitals who provide care and drugs for the poor. Doctors are kind and compassionate people. Through my doctor and surgeon and the hospital, I have had my medical bill reduced by two-thirds, my accumulated clinic bill forgiven and I was assisted by the doctor to get free drugs, which are vital to my diabetic condition. A politician didn't do this; a doctor did.