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Do homework on drug plans, seniors are told
Diane C. Lade
The nation's top public health official traveled to South Florida's senior centers Monday in a bus the size of a small apartment, bringing word about the new Medicare prescription drug benefit.
But about the only thing Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt could tell seniors at this point was: Get ready to do your homework.
The federal government has yet to select the companies that will offer the plan. But when it does later this summer, there will be many firms to chose from. They could have different premiums and different deductibles, cover different drugs and feature different pharmacy networks.
"The job of seniors will be to find out about them and figure out which one is the best for them," said Leavitt, speaking to about 150 seniors and community leaders at the Mae Volen Senior Center in Boca Raton. It was the last stop of the day for the Medicare bus, one of two vehicles crossing the country this year to promote the drug plans.
Florida, with 3 million seniors and the nation's highest percentage of residents 65 and older, was the first stop. State Secretary of Health Dr. John Agwunobi and various local officials joined Leavitt as the bus shuttled from a center in Miami to the Northwest Focal Point Senior Center in Margate, then on to Boca Raton.
HHS has allocated $300 million this year toward publicizing the plan and educating consumers, from advertisements to a Web site for plan comparisons to the bus tour.
Leavitt said he anticipates that 28 million to 30 million of Medicare's 41 million eligible beneficiaries will enroll -- even though only about 6 million signed up for the discount drug cards offered during the past two years as a stopgap before the full benefit began.
So far, seniors seem either unaware of the pending drug plan or skeptical. Many remember the politically charged battle to get the Medicare Modernization Act passed in 2003.
"There is something fishy about Medicare. At my age, I don't need the added expense of this plan," said Rachel Simons, 89, of Delray Beach, who came to the Mae Volen center.
Ben Graber, Broward County vice mayor, who spoke at the Margate senior center, urged seniors to be realistic about the new program. "It's not the best plan, but it will benefit many of us," he said. "The debate is over. It's law now."
Details about the plans probably won't surface until late this summer, and open enrollment will be Nov. 15 to May 15. Those who sign up after the deadline will pay more.
Beneficiaries probably will pay about $37 a month in premiums, HHS officials said, and have a deductible. After the deductible is met, Medicare will cover 75 percent of the medication's costs up to $2,250. The beneficiary then has to pay an additional $2,850 before coverage kicks in again, creating what has been called a "doughnut hole."
Individuals with annual incomes of $14,355 -- or $19,245 for couples -- or less will qualify for subsidies that would eliminate some or all of their out-of-pocket costs.
Jeff Johnson, advocacy manager for AARP's Florida office, said it might be "a little premature" to market a benefit that has no costs or specifics. But seniors have been distracted by the Social Security debate and may have forgotten about the drug benefit, said Johnson, whose organization supported its creation in 2003.
Robert Hayes, whose Medicare Rights Center has been a strong opponent of the benefit, said the consumer organization is advising people to "hold their noses and sign up."
"It will be unlike any insurance program anyone has seen," said Hayes, the group's president. "But it's what we have and we want people who might realize some benefit from it to be enrolled."
Diane Lade can be reached at dlade@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6618.
Source: Sun Sentinel
Senior Citizen Aticles | Drug Plans
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