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Medicare Drug Program News
Medicare Stops Automatic Drug Plan Enrollment for
Some Dual Eligibles
Advocates worry they will fall through the cracks
and lose coverage
 October
19, 2006 - About 632,000 Medicare beneficiaries who were automatically
enrolled by the government in the Medicare prescription drug benefit for
2006 will not be automatically re-enrolled in 2007 and will have to sign
up for Medicare drug plans on their own, the
AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports.
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Medicare's Improved Prescription Drug Plan Finder
Web Tool Launches with 2007 Data
2007 Medicare & You handbooks also go into
mail this month
October 13, 2006 – Medicare today officially
launched the improvements and additions for 2007 in the Medicare
Prescription Drug Plan Finder Web tool. The news release says the
changes will make it easier for beneficiaries to get personalized
information about their coverage options and costs for next year. The
2007 Medicare & You handbooks are also being mailed this month to
all senior citizens.
Read more...
Medicare Releases 2007 Drug Plans Available in Each
State
 Links below will take
readers to their state plans available for enrollment Nov. 15
September 29, 2006 – The Medicare drug programs
available for 2007 in each state were released today by the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services. Check
the link in the sidebar on this
page to find the information for your state. Open enrollment begins
November 15. Those satisfied with their current plans do not have to
take any action.
Read
more...
Read more
on
Medicare
or
Medicare Drug Program |
|
When the drug benefit began, drug coverage for dual
eligibles -- beneficiaries eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid --
was transferred from state Medicaid programs to Medicare, and the
federal government automatically enrolled dual eligibles in private
Medicare drug plans.
Some of those beneficiaries are no longer enrolled
in state Medicaid programs and therefore will not be automatically
enrolled into Medicare drug plans for 2007, according to
CMS. Affected beneficiaries who wish to remain enrolled in the
Medicare drug benefit must shop for a plan and enroll on their own
during the upcoming open enrollment period, which begins Nov. 15.
Kathleen Harrington, CMS director of external
affairs, said the agency will allow the affected beneficiaries to enroll
in plans for an additional three months after the regular open
enrollment period ends on Dec. 31. Harrington said CMS last month sent a
letter to those beneficiaries instructing them that they also should
apply for the low-income subsidy that allows access to plans with low or
no premiums.
Concerns
Some advocates are concerned that many of the 632,000 beneficiaries
will "fall through the cracks" and not realize that their drug coverage
has lapsed until they try to fill prescriptions in January, the
AP/Chronicle reports.
James Firman, president and CEO of the
National Council on Aging, said, "We believe many, if not most of
the people, simply won't respond to a letter. Many won't read the
letter, they won't understand the letter, they won't know how to fill
out the application form."
Firman said that NCOA has found that about 20% of
low-income seniors generally respond to letters, adding, "We're talking
about a population that's sick, may have low literacy. There are a lot
of challenges. What they need is one-on-one assistance from trusted
intermediaries."
According to the AP/Chronicle, some of the
beneficiaries "who lost their Medicaid coverage may have lost
eligibility because they're making more money and no longer qualify for
the extra help."
However, Firman said it is "more likely that some
states tightened eligibility requirements, or the individual did not
complete all the paperwork needed to be recertified for Medicaid."
Harrington said CMS has informed insurers who market Medicare drug plans
of which former dual eligibles will need to enroll on their own, adding,
"It's very much in the interest of the plans to keep them in coverage" (Freking,
AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 10/19).
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