TOPICS
TOPICS
HHS officials say Medicare drug enrollment on target
Bush administration officials said Thursday that nearly half of the 43 million Medicare beneficiaries have been enrolled in the new program's prescription drug plan that begins Jan. 1.
HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt said he is pleased with the progress and the enrollment "puts us right on track" to reach the goal of having 28 million to 30 million individuals receiving government drug benefits by the end of 2006. The enrollment program started last month and will continue into May.
However, nearly all the 21 million seniors had some form of drug coverage before becoming part of the new program. These include nearly 6 million retirees who had drug coverage through their old employers and who will continue to get that private coverage -- but the employers will receive a government subsidy that is designed to prevent businesses from dropping the coverage.
Others moving into the expanded Medicare "D" -- for drugs -- program include low-income individuals who were considered eligible for dual coverage of Medicaid and Medicare and those already enrolled in the Medicare Advantage program. In the first 28 days of enrollment, more than 1 million people who had no or little coverage signed up for "stand alone" coverage and will pay premiums and deductibles for prescription drugs.
Leavitt and Mark McClellan, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said they were surprised by the number of employers -- about 80 percent -- who continued their retiree drug converge in exchange for the government subsidy. There had been fears that many employers would cancel their drug plans.
McClellan also said he expected many seniors to wait until the last minute in May to sign up for one of the array of private plans that will run the program. Many seniors have expressed confusion at choosing a plan from as many as 40 or 80 available in some states.
COMMENTS
- A minor correction to the comment below. If the government thinks that you are a combined Medicaid/Medicare recipient, it will automatically enroll you in Part D. I administer all of my mom's business affairs, and it has been a nightmare attempting to unenroll her from the two plans that she was automatically enrolled in, despite not being on Medicaid. She has been only on Medicare for 15 years, and has always had comprehensive drug coverage via her retiree medical coverage. That plan confirmed that she could continue to receive her prescription coverage once Medicare Part D started. Accordingly, I had no intention of enrolling her in any of the Medicare Part D plans, and was unpleasantly surprised to see that it had been done not once, but twice. The State of Illinois also auto enrolled her in a plan different from the one that Medicare did. As I expected, the folks manning the Medicare phone lines had no clue why my mom had been placed in all these plans with no advance notification or concurrence whatsoever. The origin of this administrative snafu was a mystery to them. It was now on me to try to disenroll her from both plans so as to not place her existing coverage in jeopardy. However, the plans were not cooperating, with phone lines not being answered, extremely long waiting times, and poorly trained personnel. I feel really sorry for the elderly folks without an advocate such as myself who are the innocent victims of mistakes in the implementation of this Medicare Part D "benefit." The government needs better quality assurance and should attempt to view this program from the standpoint of the users, not the bureaucrats. It would be all around simpler if that were the case, and I surmise that enrollment rates would be higher. Contracting Officer Posted January 10, 2006 4:25 PM
- You will be automatically enrolled in a prescription drug plan if you are covered by both Medicaid (coverage for the poor) and Medicare (generally, coverage for those over age 65). Beginning Jan. 1 the prescription drug coverage you had under Medicaid will no longer exist. If you don't want the Medicare prescription drug coverage you can disenroll by calling 1-800-Medicare. If you are not covered by Medicaid and Medicare you will not be automatically enrolled in Part D. GovExec.com reader Posted January 3, 2006 7:22 PM
- As I read the article, it means I will arbitrarily be enrolled in "D." I already have drug coverage with my insurance and do not want in the "D" program. Am I wrong? GovExec.com reader Posted December 30, 2005 3:32 PM
