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Senior Citizen Opinions & Analysis
Medicare has Created Wild West Marketplace, Older
Americans Ripe for Exploitation
President of Medicare Rights Center on choice of
prescription drug and Medicare health plans for 2009
By
Robert M. Hayes, President, Medicare Rights Center
 Sept.
26, 2008 - Once again, all across the country, people with Medicare will
face for 2009 a bewildering choice of nearly 50 prescription drug plans
and over 40 Medicare health plans, including HMOs, PPOs, and private
fee-for-service plans of every variety. It is a Wild West marketplace
and older Americans are ripe for exploitation.
Bait-and-switch tactics are in full play. In 2009,
the average one-year premium increase for over 60 percent of people with
Medicare those enrolled in the ten largest drug plans will exceed 30
percent.
Two of the nations largest plans, both sponsored
by Humana, are increasing premiums by over 60 percent over 2008.
Humanas standard drug plan, the second largest in the country, is
increasing its premium by 330 percent since it launched its
low-premium plan in 2006.
Every year prescription drug plans change which
drugs they cover and which drugs are subject to restrictions. Medicare
private health plans can make important changes to how they cover
medical services and which doctors and hospitals they will allow their
members to see.
Even people who feel satisfied with their plans
this year must carefully review the coverage they will receive in 2009
to see if they need to change plans before the deadline.
Markets do not work when consumers must purchase
complex insurance packages in the dark. It is essential that the next
Congress and the next President force a standardization of the crazy
quilt of Medicare private insurance products being offered. Only then
will consumers have a chance to make informed choices. \
Editors Notes:
Medicare Rights Center is a national,
not-for-profit consumer service organization that works to ensure access
to affordable health care for older adults and people with disabilities
through counseling and advocacy, educational programs, and public policy
initiatives. 520 Eighth Avenue, North Wing, 3rd Floor, New York, New
York 10018 and 110 Maryland Avenue, NE, Suite 112, Washington, D. C.
20002 ∙
www.medicarerights.org
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