|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Seniors Who Conquer the Challenge are Satisfied with
Medicare Drug Plan
Problems found in those who lack the energy and do
not understand English
March 27, 2006 – Senior citizens who take the time,
often with help, to walk through the decisions required to chose a
Medicare drug plan are satisfied with the program, according to an
in-depth look at how Americans are accepting the new Medicare Part D by
the New York Times. The newspaper found, too, that those with dementia
and other energy-absorbing problems are giving up on the challenge.
KaiserNet.org, also says in their daily report that the Los Angeles
Times finds non-English speaking seniors at a serious loss.
 New
York Times Examines Group of Beneficiaries Satisfied With Medicare
Prescription Drug Benefit
The
New York Times on Sunday examined the group of Medicare
beneficiaries who are satisfied with the new Medicare drug benefit and
"say it was worth wading through the confusion and complexity of the new
program to enroll."
| |
Related Stories |
|
| |
Medicare Drug Program Now Covering Over 27 Million
as Enrollment Jumps
Good progress made in last few weeks with 2 million
more covered
By Tucker Sutherland, editor
March 24, 2006 – Comparing the numbers released
yesterday by Medicare on enrollment in the drug plan with those released
last month do not exactly match with the news release accompanying the
numbers, but anyway you look at the numbers the indicate good progress
over the last few weeks. Although, some estimates say as many as 16
million seniors and others eligible are still not covered by a drug
plan.
Read more...
Read more
on
Medicare Drug Program |
|
According to the
Treasury Department, Medicare spent $5.1 billion on prescription
drugs for beneficiaries in January and February, paying for more than a
million prescriptions daily. Beneficiaries who report the highest rates
of satisfaction with the program include those who are "far removed from
the raucous debate in Washington" and who live in states such as
Oklahoma that did not have "generous state-financed programs to help
them with their drug costs," the Times reports.
In addition, most who report satisfaction with the
benefit have remained in the plan in which they originally enrolled;
received help choosing a plan from Medicare experts, insurance
counselors and relatives; and are not enrolled in Medicaid and thus were
not switched automatically to Medicare drug coverage.
The Times reports that beneficiaries who are
successfully receiving their medications under the program can save
thousands of dollars annually. For instance, one couple in Tulsa, Okla.,
reduced their combined annual drug costs from more than $25,000 to
$4,900 after enrolling in the Medicare drug benefit. Dr. Jean Root, a
geriatrician in Tulsa, said that beneficiaries with the education and
perseverance to navigate the enrollment process are the most likely to
be satisfied with the system.
By contrast, those who are dissatisfied often have
"dementia and terminal illnesses" and "don't have the energy, the
interest or the mental capacity to work through the system," Root said
(Pear, New York Times, 3/26).
| |
More Medicare News |
|
| |
Capitol Hill Watch
House Budget Bill Might Include Medicare, Medicaid Spending
Reductions
The
House Budget Committee on Thursday and Friday plans to mark
up the House fiscal year 2007 budget resolution, which likely
will "attempt to trim mandatory spending programs while holding
the line on discretionary spending,"
CQ Today reports.
According to CQ Today, the House budget resolution "will almost
certainly take a tougher position" on spending for entitlement
programs such as Medicare and Medicaid than the Senate budget
resolution.
The Senate budget
resolution, which
passed on March 16, does not include spending reductions for
entitlement programs
proposed by President Bush. However, moderate and
conservative House Republicans disagree over whether to seek
spending reductions for entitlement programs this year.
Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.),
chair of the
House Ways and Means Committee, has said that he does not
expect the House budget resolution to include spending
reductions for Medicare. As a result, House Budget Committee
members will have "little flexibility to put together a package
of entitlement savings," although they "might be able to propose
$10 billion or a bit more over five years -- perhaps enough to
appease conservatives without driving away moderate Republicans
nervous about election-year cuts in social programs," CQ Today
reports.
Meanwhile, House
Democrats "will try to paint a Republican-backed budget
resolution as stingy toward important programs while full of red
ink," CQ Today reports (Dennis, CQ Today, 3/24). |
|
Language Barriers to Enrollment
The
Los Angeles Times on Monday examined how elderly immigrants in
California and other areas with large immigrant populations are
"swamping clinics, community centers and pharmacies, unable to read the
litany of Medicare-related mailings or even ask questions about their
new plans."
According to the Los Angeles Times, with the May 15
deadline for enrollment nearing, many elderly immigrants are finding
that private health insurers and Medicare officials do not have the
capacity to accommodate translation requests, and some who have lived
and worked in the U.S. "for years resent feeling excluded from a
national program."
Jeanne Finberg, an attorney for the
National Senior Citizens Law Center, said, "The federal government
has really failed this population," adding, "How outrageous is it that
so many of the Medicare beneficiaries are unable to understand any part
of this program?"
Medicare officials last week said they are
performing outreach at senior centers that serve non-English speakers
and are funding toll-free call lines that cater to native Spanish,
Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean speakers.
"We have room for improvement," Anne Avery, a
health insurance specialist for Medicare, said, adding, "We are just
starting a lot more to find out what vehicles we can use to reach out to
these people."
CMS spokesperson Peter Ashkenaz said private health insurers
providing Medicare drug plans must accommodate non-English-speaking
callers. A spokesperson for
WellPoint, whose
Unicare call center was unable to provide translation services to
some callers late last week, said supervisors at call centers have been
reminded of the company's policy to provide live interpretation services
(Lin, Los Angeles Times, 3/27).
"Reprinted with
permission from kaisernetwork.org You can view the entire
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign up
for email delivery at
www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report is published for
kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family
Foundation. © 2006 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation.
All rights reserved.”
Click here to Search SeniorJournal.com for more on
this subject
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
