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Medicare Drug Program News
Small Wall Street Journal Poll Finds Seniors
Satisfied with Drug Plans
Medicare Advantage plans showing big gain in
popularity
November 7, 2006 The KaiserNet.org daily round-up
on news about the Medicare drug program reports that the Wall Street
Journal Online has released a survey indicating 3 out of 4 senior
citizens are satisfied with the drug plans they have now. Although the
report did not explain why their were almost three thousand responses to
the survey and only 177 were enrolled in the prescription drug benefit.
The daily report also summarized news coverage of plan benefits and
marketing efforts for 2007. The New York Times is suggesting senior take
a look at what may have changed in their plans for next year, was
enrollment opening nears on November 15.
 Three-Fourths
of Medicare Beneficiaries Satisfied With Prescription Drug Plans, Poll
Finds
Three-fourths of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in
the prescription drug benefit are satisfied with their plans, according
to a recent Wall Street Journal Online/Harris
Interactive poll, Wall Street Journal Online reports.
The poll, conducted between Oct. 27 and Oct. 31,
included responses from 2,766 U.S. adults, 177 of whom were Medicare
beneficiaries enrolled in the prescription drug benefit.
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Related Stories |
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Less Than Half of Boomers-Seniors Think Medicare
Drug Program is Good for Older Americans, says AARP Poll
Those 61 and older
more negative than baby boomers
October 30, 2006 Senior citizens may not be as favorably impressed
with Medicare's prescription drug program as many have assumed. A new
poll by AARP shows only 46% of Americans age 61 and older think
Medicares prescription drug plan will be a good thing for older
Americans who have difficulty paying for their prescriptions.
Read more...
New Industry Website Helps Senior Citizens with
Basic Decisions on Medicare Drug Program
Goal is to help
seniors make better decisions about coverage they need
November 2, 2006 Three industry groups that serve
senior citizens enrolled in Medicare's drug program have joined together
to produce their own Website to help seniors evaluate their prescription
drug plan options for 2007. Where Medicare's Prescription Drug Plan
Finder, helps seniors choose a specific plan, this site addresses the
broader questions of the type of plan that is best for individual needs.
Read
more...
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.
Read
more...
Senior Citizens About to Face Their Medicare Drug
Plan Decision, Again
Enrollment opens Nov. 15 to change to
better plan
September 14, 2006 Remember the agony you went
through last year in trying to figure out which of Medicare's multitude
of prescription drug programs you should join? Guess what, senior
citizens are about to have a chance to do it all over again.
Read more...
Read more
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Medicare
or
Medicare Drug Program |
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Among Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the
prescription drug benefit, 70% said that their prescription drug plans
have reduced their medication costs. In addition, 82% of those
respondents said that their prescription drug plans were not difficult
to use, the poll found. Half of those respondents said that their
prescription plans provided them with information to help reduce their
medication costs, according to the poll.
In addition, 73% of those respondents said that
they likely will remain in the same prescription drug plans next year
and 12% said that they likely will switch plans, the poll found. Among
all respondents, 30% said that they agreed with enactment of the 2003
Medicare law, compared with 18% who disapproved and 53% who remain
uncertain, the poll found (Bright, Wall Street Journal Online, 11/7).
Additional Coverage
Two newspapers recently examined issues related to the Medicare
prescription drug benefit. Summaries appear below.
● Medicare Advantage plans: The
Dallas Morning News on Monday examined the increased popularity of
MA plans, private plans that offer traditional benefits, prescription
drug coverage and, in some cases, other benefits, such as dental and
vision care.
According to the Morning News, many MA private
fee-for-service plans "offer the same broad access to doctors and
hospitals that beneficiaries enjoy in traditional Medicare," and such
plans often have lower premiums than traditional Medicare. However,
beneficiaries who have high medical expenses might pay more under these
plans than under traditional Medicare.
Enrollment in MA plans has increased by 27% in the
past year, and the Bush administration expects 30% of Medicare
beneficiaries to enroll in such plans by 2013 (Moos, Dallas Morning
News, 11/6).
● Medicare prescription drug plan enrollment: The
New York Times on Tuesday examined options for Medicare
beneficiaries who enroll in the prescription drug benefit for the 2007
plan year. The enrollment period begins on Nov. 15.
According to the Times, Medicare beneficiaries
should "take a second look" at available prescription drug plans,
regardless of their current medication coverage. Beneficiaries who
currently have no prescription drug coverage should use the Medicare
Prescription Drug Plan Finder on the Medicare Web site.
Medicare beneficiaries should consider the
premiums, deductibles and copayments for the medications that they take,
and the "kinds of restrictions that may be placed" on those treatments,
according to the Times. In addition, Medicare beneficiaries should
"double check with the plan itself" to ensure that the information on
the Web site included no errors, the Times reports. Medicare
beneficiaries currently enrolled in prescription drug plans should
review their coverage to determine whether the formularies or premiums
of their plans have changed (Brody, New York Times, 11/7).
Rx Drug Plan Marketing
Summaries of two recent developments related to health insurers and
Medicare prescription drug plans appear below.
● Marketing campaigns: Hundreds of health
insurers nationwide "are pouring money and imagination into selling"
Medicare drug plans, the
Detroit News reports. Enrollment in Medicare drug plans for 2007
begins on Nov. 15, and
CMS allowed health insurers to begin marketing prescription drug
plans this month.
According to the Detroit News, health insurers are
"holding catchy promotions, hiring celebrity spokespeople and deploying
friendly sales reps to places ... where seniors shop." Health insurers
maintain that marketing campaigns for drug plans help educate
beneficiaries about which plans to select.
Scott Latimer,
Humana market president for central and northern Florida, said,
"Often, we're not doing selling, but we're doing basic education.
There's still confusion out there."
Deane Beebe, spokesperson for the New York-based
Medicare Rights Center, said, "Clearly this is good business for the
insurance industry. We're always concerned about marketing. Companies
always advertise the plusses and don't let them know some of the
concerns." Experts expect health insurers this year to spend more than
$80 million on marketing campaigns for Medicare drug plans (Terlep,
Detroit News, 11/4).
●
UnitedHealth Group: UnitedHealth officials on Friday announced that
the company will offer SecureHorizons Medicare Advantage and
prescription drug plans in more than 700 Wal-Mart stores in 30 states,
the
Louisville Courier-Journal reports.
A decision by Humana officials to reduce the number
of Wal-Mart stores in which the company offers Medicare plans allowed
UnitedHealth to make the move. Under an agreement between Humana and
Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart can allow other health insurers to offer Medicare
plans in stores in which Humana does not offer plans (Howington,
Louisville Courier-Journal, 11/3).
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