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Medicare Drug Program
Massive Last Week Push to Enroll Seniors in Medicare
Drug Program
Missing May 15 deadline means paying at least 7%
more for program in future
May 8, 2006 – With only a week left for senior
citizens to enroll in the Medicare drug program without a penalty for
enrolling in future years, Medicare has launched a massive effort to get
seniors enrolled by the May 15 deadline. Those who do not make it will
have to wait until November to enroll and will pay 7 percent higher
premiums – for as long as they are enrolled. The daily Medicare report
by KaiserNet.org also reports Democrats are saying they want to change
the law to allow Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for
better prices on Medicare drugs.
 Federal Government Launches Final Enrollment
Effort for Medicare Rx Benefit Before May 15 Deadline
Medicare has added 6,000 telephone operators,
quadrupled its computer enrollment capacity and promised to participate
in more than 1,000 events in the next week as part of a "final push" to
enroll Medicare beneficiaries in the prescription drug benefit before
the May 15 sign up deadline, the
AP/San Francisco
Chronicle reports (Freking, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 5/7).
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Related Stories |
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Poor Communications on Medicare Drug Plan May Be
Reason Enrollment Lags
GAO tells CMS to improve hotline and Website
May 4, 2006 – With the deadline (May 15) for
enrolling in the first year of the Medicare drug program rapidly
approaching, the Government Accountability Office may have found the
not-very-surprising reason many senior citizens have not enrolled – the
communications about the program have not been very good. The Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services said it is taking action to make the
suggested improvements, although the agency said the findings were not a
complete and accurate picture.
Read
more...
Three Companies Dominate Medicare Drug Plans
The AARP brand is a license to print money, says
consultant
May 1, 2006 – As the first round of enrollment in
the Medicare drug program nears its deadline on May 15, it appears just
three of the insurance companies - out of 80 offering drug plans – are
big winners, with over half of the business. Not surprisingly, the most
successful has been UnitedHealth Group, which has a financial
arrangement with AARP for their endorsement. AARP, which says it is a
non-profit and advocate for citizens 50 and older, was a strong
supporter of the bill establishing the drug program.
Read more...
Medicare Drug Plan Provider Offers Advice to Seniors
Facing May 15 Deadline
Analysis of 50,000 enrollees finds confusion,
misunderstanding & frustration was rampant
April 25, 2005 – The volume of information from
Medicare and drug plans has been overwhelming to senior citizens trying
to join the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, but those who have
not joined should not be discouraged, says Connextions Health. They also
offer advice to those not enrolled as the May 15 deadline nears. The
company bases the information on experience in assisting over 50,000
senior citizens to enroll.
Read more...
Changes Made and Proposed to Improve Medicare Drug
Program
Republican enters bill in House to extend
enrollment deadline
April 28, 2006 – With millions of senior citizens
facing the deadline to enroll in a Medicare prescription drug plan by
May 15, a series of actions and proposals are aimed at making the
Medicare Part D program more attractive to seniors. Medicare has told
insurers they must keep drug lists (formularies) and copays the same for
a contract year. Yesterday, two Democrats on the Senate Finance
Committee proposed a bill to simplify the program, according to a report
by KaiserNet.org. Meanwhile, a House Republican filed a bill to extend
the enrollment deadline to the end of the year.
Read more...
Read more
on
Medicare Drug Program |
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Beneficiaries who sign up after the deadline will
have to pay a 1% increase in their premiums for each month enrollment is
delayed. The next enrollment period begins in November, meaning
beneficiaries who miss next week's deadline will have to pay at least 7%
higher premiums, the
Philadelphia
Inquirer reports.
Bush administration officials have said certain
groups -- including low-income beneficiaries, those with special needs
and some Hurricane Katrina evacuees -- will
not be penalized
for late enrollment (Sullivan, Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/8).
HHS
Secretary Mike Leavitt said an estimated 38 million Medicare
beneficiaries now have some type of prescription drug coverage. He added
that officials have "got a shot at getting to 90%" of the 43 million
beneficiaries who are eligible for drug coverage through various
programs.
Leavitt said the May 15 deadline will not be
extended, adding that for those who have not yet enrolled, "the reason
they have chosen not to sign up will probably be as true in June or July
as it is today." He said there are four groups of beneficiaries who have
not enrolled: those who have no drug expenses and "don't think they need
a plan," those who think the drug benefit is only available to
low-income beneficiaries, people who have procrastinated, and those who
do not wish to sign up for a government program (AP/San Francisco
Chronicle, 5/7).
Protestors
A group of "several hundred" activists from
National People's
Action, a coalition of advocacy groups, on Sunday
demonstrated in front of Leavitt's home in Arlington County, Va., to
protest the enrollment deadline, the
Washington Post
reports. The protestors called for an extension of the deadline to
December 31. HHS spokesperson Bill Hall said Leavitt is out of town this
week and will not meet with National People's Action. Hall reiterated
that Leavitt does not plan to extend the deadline (Thompson, Washington
Post, 5/8).
Additional Coverage
Two other newspapers on Sunday also published articles related to
the drug benefit and the enrollment deadline. Summaries appear below.
●
Baltimore Sun:
The Sun published a question-and-answer feature on the drug benefit for
beneficiaries who have not yet enrolled. The article answers questions
on eligibility requirements, alternative sources of drug coverage, drug
plan options and other topics (Salganik, Baltimore Sun, 5/7).
●
Los Angeles Times:
The Times examined how the late-enrollment penalty "is one of the
least-understood aspects" of the drug benefit. The penalty equals 1% of
the national average monthly premium multiplied by the number of months
since June 1, which is the effective date of coverage for beneficiaries
who enroll by May 15. The penalty continues to increase with time,
meaning a beneficiary who is eligible to enroll now but waits to sign up
until the end of 2009 would have to pay an increase of 43% of the
average monthly premium, according to the Times (Alonso-Zaldivar [1],
Los Angeles Times, 5/7).
●
Los Angeles Times:
The Times also examined how the drug benefit "apparently is achieving
its primary objective: helping millions of Americans get protection they
did not previously have against one of the most draining problems of
growing older." However, the enrollment process "remains so complex and
hard for seniors to navigate" that it has prevented the program from
"being hailed as an unqualified success," the Times reports (Alonso-Zaldivar
[2], Los Angeles Times, 5/7).
Democrats Promise Changes
In related news, Democratic leaders say that if their party wins
majority control of the House in the November election, they would
repeal a provision in the 2003 Medicare law that prevents HHS from
negotiating Medicare drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, the
Washington Post
reports. According to the Post, Democrats are "increasingly confident
they will seize control of the House in November," but many analysts
still consider it a "long shot" that Democrats will pick up the 15 seats
they need to gain the majority (Weisman, Washington Post, 5/7).
Niaspan and Niacor
Meanwhile, CMS has overturned a previous directive and said that
Medicare drug plans can cover prescription niacin medication, including
Niaspan and Niacor, which are used to treat high cholesterol,
Long Island Newsday
reports.
CMS officials originally said the treatments were
vitamin supplements and thus would not be covered under the drug
benefit. They later said the medications would be covered until June
after beneficiaries complained that they had not been given 60-day
notice of the change. The
American
Pharmacists Association and some members of Congress also
criticized the exclusion.
On April 11, CMS said it had reviewed the issue and
determined that niacin medications are not vitamins. Drug plans can add
the products to their formularies this or next year (Friedman, Long
Island Newsday, 5/7).
"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.”
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