Most Senior Citizens Say Medicare Drug Plans have Saved Them Money

November 21, 2006 – According to the latest WSJ Online/Harris Interactive Health-Care Poll, the Medicare Part D drug benefit has been highly successful among senior citizens in its first year. Most who are enrolled in a Medicare drug plan say they are satisfied with their current plan (75%) and are not likely to switch next year (73%). In fact, large majorities say their plans have been easy to use (82%) and have saved them money (70%).

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The survey findings suggest that, in part, many seniors are saving money because they are asking their doctors to switch them to generic medications (40%) or have been advised to do so by their doctors (35%). In addition, half (49%) of those enrolled in a Medicare drug plan report that their plans have given them information about options that can help lower their drug costs.

These are some of the results of an online survey of 2,766 U.S. adults, ages 18 and older, conducted by Harris Interactive between October 27 and 31, 2006 for The Wall Street Journal Online’s Health Industry Edition (www.wsj.com/health).

The percentage of seniors in general who are pleased with the passage of the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) that created the drug benefit has increased significantly over time, from 26 percent in February 2004 to 47 percent currently.

Seniors who are enrolled in a Medicare Drug Plan are almost twice as likely as the general population to say they are pleased the Medicare bill passed (59% vs. 30%), which could be due to the fact that more than half of the general public is unsure or doesn’t know enough to have an opinion (53%).

When asked specifically about the four pieces of the bill, both seniors and the general public highly approve of three. The primary area of discontent continues to be the component of the MMA that prohibits the importation of less expensive drugs from Canada, with eight in ten of those who know enough to have an opinion saying they disapprove of this law (78% of all adults; 77% of those ages 50 to 64; and 82% of those 65 and older).

TABLE 1

PLEASED OR DISAPPOINTED WITH NEW MEDICARE BILL

"In 2003, the Congress passed a new Medicare bill that includes a new prescription drug benefit. Which of the following best describes how you feel about the Medicare bill?"

	All Adults				Age 65+				Seniors Enrolled in Medicare Drug Plan
	Feb. 2004	June 2005	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006	Feb. 2004	June 2005	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006	Oct. 2006
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Pleased (Net)	21	38	27	30	26	34	36	47	59
I am very pleased that it passed	9	17	11	17	8	12	17	25	38
I am somewhat pleased that it passed	12	21	16	13	18	22	19	22	21
Disappointed (Net)	25	18	26	18	41	32	38	29	26
I am somewhat disappointed that it passed	9	8	8	6	14	14	14	10	7
I am very disappointed that it passed	16	10	19	12	27	18	24	19	19
Not Sure/ Don’t Know Enough About it to Have an Opinion (Net)	55	44	46	53	32	34	27	24	15
Don’t know	12	6	10	8	12	4	9	4	5
Don’t know enough about it to have an opinion	43	38	36	45	20	30	16	20	10

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 2

APPROVE/DISAPPROVE OF HELPING INSURERS TO COMPETE WITH TRADITIONAL MEDICARE

"How do you feel about the following four pieces of the bill?"

(1) A plan to help insurance and managed care plans to compete with traditional Medicare

Base: Those who "know enough to have an opinion" (i.e., 47% of all adults)

	All Adults		Adults 50 – 64		Adults 65+
	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Approve Strongly/ Somewhat (Net)	66	74	66	78	65	69
Approve strongly	28	30	33	35	26	24
Approve somewhat	37	43	33	43	39	45
Disapprove Strongly/ Somewhat (Net)	34	26	34	22	35	31
Disapprove somewhat	18	16	16	12	20	18
Disapprove strongly	17	10	18	10	16	14

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 3

APPROVE/DISAPPROVE OF BAN ON IMPORTING LESS EXPENSIVE DRUGS

"How do you feel about the four following pieces of the bill?"

(2) A law which prohibits importing less expensive drugs from Canada

Base: Those who "know enough to have an opinion" (i.e., 47% of all adults)

	All Adults		Adults 50 – 64		Adults 65+
	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Approve Strongly/ Somewhat (Net)	20	22	17	23	20	18
Approve strongly	10	10	8	9	8	9
Approve somewhat	10	12	9	14	12	9
Disapprove Strongly/ Somewhat (Net)	80	78	83	77	80	82
Disapprove somewhat	21	21	25	18	14	21
Disapprove strongly	59	57	58	59	66	61

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 4

APPROVE/DISAPPROVE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT

"How do you feel about the following four pieces of the bill?"

(3) Prescription drug benefit for people on Medicare starting in 2006

Base: Those who "know enough to have an opinion" (i.e., 47% of all adults)

	All Adults		Adults 50 – 64		Adults 65+
	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Approve Strongly/ Somewhat (Net)	79	83	83	86	79	78
Approve strongly	48	51	55	58	50	47
Approve somewhat	31	32	28	29	29	31
Disapprove Strongly/ Somewhat (Net)	21	17	17	14	21	22
Disapprove somewhat	12	10	8	6	11	12
Disapprove strongly	9	7	9	8	10	10

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 5

APPROVE/DISAPPROVE OF SUBSIDY FOR LOWER-INCOME SENIORS

"How do you feel about the following four pieces of the bill?"

(4) A subsidy for lower-income seniors to reduce their out-of-pocket costs by lowering their monthly premiums for the drug benefit and lowering co-payments for prescription drugs

Base: Those who "know enough to have an opinion" (i.e., 47% of all adults)

	All Adults		Adults 50 – 64		Adults 65+
	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006	Feb. 2006	Oct. 2006
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Approve Strongly/ Somewhat (Net)	89	92	87	92	93	94
Approve strongly	60	60	68	68	59	59
Approve somewhat	29	31	19	24	34	35
Disapprove Strongly/ Somewhat (Net)	11	8	13	8	7	6
Disapprove somewhat	6	5	7	1	5	3
Disapprove strongly	4	4	6	7	2	3

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 6

SENIORS’ EXPERIENCES WITH MEDICARE DRUG PLANS

"Have you personally experienced any of the following since joining your Medicare drug plan?"

Base: Seniors enrolled in a Medicare drug plan

	Yes	No	Not Sure
	%	%	%
My plan has saved me money on prescription drugs	70	20	11
It has been difficult for me to understand the benefits	32	59	9
I asked my doctor to switch me to or prescribe a generic medication in order to lower my drug costs	40	55	5
My drug plan gave me information to help me find ways to lower my drug costs	49	36	15
Without me asking about it, my doctor suggested switching to or prescribing a generic medication in order to lower my drug costs	35	58	7
I had to pay the full price for my prescription drugs because I hit the donut hole	15	82	3
I had to switch medications because a drug I had been taking was not covered by my drug plan	18	78	3
My drug plan has been easy to use	82	13	5

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 7

SENIORS’ SATISFACTION WITH THEIR MEDICARE DRUG PLANS

"Overall, how satisfied are you with your Medicare drug plan?

Base: Seniors enrolled in a Medicare drug plan

	Total
	%
Very/Somewhat Satisfied (Net)	75
Very satisfied	35
Somewhat satisfied	40
Not Very/At All Satisfied (Net)	24
Not very satisfied	16
Not at all satisfied	8
Don’t know	*

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

* = Less than 0.5 percent.

TABLE 8

SENIORS LIKELIHOOD TO CHANGE DRUG PLANS

"Seniors will be able to switch Medicare drug plans beginning at the start of the new year; how likely is it that you will switch plans?"

Base: Seniors enrolled in a Medicare drug plan

	Total
	%
Very/Somewhat Likely (Net)	12
Very likely	2
Somewhat likely	11
Not Very/At All Likely (Net)	73
Not very likely	34
Not at all likely	39
Don’t know	14

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

Editor's Notes

Methodology

Harris Interactive conducted this online survey within the United States between October 27 and 31, 2006 among a national cross section of 2,766 adults (ages 18 years and over) of whom 457 are ages 65 and older and 177 who are seniors enrolled in a Medicare Drug Plan. Figures for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income and region were weighted where necessary to align with population proportions. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

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About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides research-driven insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com.

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