Washington – The new Medicare prescription drug plan that goes into operation in January is one of the most complicated federal benefits ever devised, and senior citizens by the tens of thousands have been shying away from signing up.
But not to worry, federal officials say, they’ve developed a new system called “Plan Finder” to make everything simpler – a kind of magic decoder ring to melt away the confusion.
There’s just one catch: The new system is designed for people who have no problem getting onto the Internet via computer – something fewer than one-third of all elderly Americans have ever done.
If navigating the Internet is not challenge enough, those who get to the Medicare.gov website must type and mouse- click their way through screen after screen of questions, boxes to check, options and choices.
Only then will they get a personalized list of available plans, with their main characteristics spelled out and their costs ranked from lowest to highest.
That, experts agree, is where the real comparison shopping should begin.
To computer wizards, or the Xbox Generation grandchildren of today’s senior citizens, all this would be child’s play.
But the aging, computer- challenged customers Plan Finder is intended to help might disagree.
“For someone who is computer savvy, I would probably give (Plan Finder) a ‘B,”‘ said Marlene Eskin of Austin, Texas, who is 70 and works as a marketing consultant. “For the audience they are directing it to, the majority of whom may not even have a computer, I would give it a ‘D.”‘
There’s nothing funny about the potential consequences. The Medicare prescription benefit is a small but pioneering step toward helping large numbers of Americans cope with the ever- increasing cost of health care. It is also one of the proudest domestic policy achievements of the Bush presidency.
Yet the complexities of the plan have discouraged so many senior citizens from signing up thus far that the success of the overall plan is in doubt.
