Prescription drug plan is too confusing and complicated

In theory, choice can be a good thing. So when President Bush and the Republican Congressional leadership rammed through the 2003 Medicare law, they claimed that by privatizing Medicare, seniors would have better choices.

But thanks to a privatized and flawed drug benefit, 43 million Medicare recipients today are drowning in choice.

A couple of weeks ago, seniors started signing up for Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage. What they have encountered has been nothing short of mind-boggling.

Each state has an average of 40 drug plans to choose from. Premiums and co-payments differ wildly. And no two plans offer the same drug coverage. It is a Part D disaster.

The new drug coverage is simply too confusing, too complex and too overwhelming for anyone, not just seniors, to understand.

Bewildered beneficiaries are struggling to make sense of what this private drug benefit is all about. Frustrated seniors are being bombarded with mail and advertisements.

Private insurance companies stand to make huge profits if they can enroll millions of seniors, particularly healthy seniors, and are sparing no expense to promote their for-profit plans.

Retirees are receiving letters from former companies that currently provide their health care and drug coverage and wondering whether or not their current coverage, which can be far better than anything they'll find in the Part D plans, will be maintained.

It's hard to know who or what to trust when it comes to providing unbiased, helpful information.

The federal government continually promotes use of its Medicare Web site as the main source of information needed to make informed decisions, but a recent study reported that 75% of all Medicare beneficiaries have never even been on-line. For seniors who call Medicare's toll-free hotline (1-800-MEDICARE), they are stuck sitting and waiting as overwhelmed counselors try to walk beneficiaries through their choices - if they are not hearing a busy signal.

Even health care professionals bristle at the multitude of choices because it's not clear what drug plan is going to provide the best coverage for the best price.

In Wisconsin, where there are more than 800,000 Medicare beneficiaries, Wisconsin State Alliance President Leon Burzynski said he fears many seniors won't enroll in a private drug plan because they don't know how to best evaluate or make sense of the 45 or more private plans available in the state.

t's too much to comprehend, he said, and the necessary resources aren't readily available. Like most Wisconsin seniors and retirees, many older Americans are turning to friends and family to help them assess the available plans and make informed decisions. But caretakers are also plenty confused.

It didn't have to be this way. Part D is most certainly not what we fought for.

We protested against privatization and advocated for keeping the drug benefit under Medicare, where it belongs, and out of the hands of entities primarily focused on profit. We warned that the new benefit was overly complicated and that it failed to provide adequate resources to help beneficiaries.

Time and again we have demanded that Medicare have the right to negotiate lower prices with drug companies.

We have not given up in our fight for affordable and accessible drugs for all seniors. The Alliance endorses the call for extra protections for beneficiaries in the first year of the drug coverage program.

If lawmakers are really concerned with the health coverage of Medicare's beneficiaries, they should support H.R. 3861, the Medicare Informed Choice Act, which would expand the initial enrollment period from May 15, 2006 to Dec. 31, 2006, thereby delaying late-enrollment penalties.

This legislation would also protect beneficiaries who make an initial mistake by allowing a one-time change in enrollment plans in 2006, as well as protect retiree benefits for those who enroll in a private Part D drug plan.

It makes good common sense to support steps aimed at protecting our seniors from the unintended and adverse consequences resulting from this confusing and complex new program.

The Alliance also continues to support measures aimed at actually reducing drug prices. The new law deliberately protected pharmaceutical profits by diluting purchasing power and prohibiting the federal government from getting the best deal for beneficiaries and taxpayers.

That's wrong, and the Alliance supports efforts to both let Medicare negotiate the lowest drug prices as well as to allow the safe reimportation of prescription drugs from other industrialized countries. Our 3.5 million members across the country will be fighting hard for legislation that will provide seniors affordable and accessible drugs at the lowest possible price.

But until the Part D disaster is changed and replaced, seniors must focus on the plans before them. They should take the necessary time to get all the facts, ask lots of questions and evaluate all their options. Work with someone you trust to provide unbiased information.

In Wisconsin, seniors with questions about the new drug coverage benefit can call the prescription drug helpline toll-free at (866) 456-8211.

Don't let the choices paralyze you.

George J. Kourpias is president of the national Alliance for Retired Americans, a nationwide grass-roots organization based in Washington, D.C. that advocates on behalf of seniors and retired workers