The sputtering Jan. 1 rollout of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit has bought hardship to some of America’s most vulnerable citizens.
Fourteen governors wrote President Bush saying the program has caused “confusion, mismanagement and a bureaucratic nightmare.” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the error rate in California was fully 20 percent.
Among the 24 million seniors who are now enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug program are 6 million who were automatically signed up because they were already receiving benefits from Medicaid, the federal-state program that helps the poor with health costs. All seniors suffered plenty of confusion in launching Medicare RX, but the so-called “dual eligibles” who had previously received low-cost drugs under Medicaid have often found the new “benefit” threatened them with disaster.
Across the nation, many thousands of cases have been reported of pharmacists unable to fill prescriptions for low-income elderly – in most cases because insurance companies hadn’t received eligibility information from federal officials. The problem is so widespread that 20 states have acted to subsidize drugs purchases for low-income beneficiaries caught in the bureaucratic limbo. Washington has refused to directly reimburse the states, raising the temperature on the issue.
Colorado took early steps to protect its low-income elderly.
The state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing sent three letters to Medicaid clients beginning Nov. 8 to help guide them through the transition and established a call center to resolve problems. Executive Director Steve Tool said the center received 1,400 calls between November and December. Despite that preliminary work, many low-income seniors ran into problems during the program’s opening days and the state hotline received 900 calls in the first two weeks of January, Tool said.
After two weeks of chaos, we were glad to see that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Jan. 13 told all insurers to cover a 30-day supply of any drug that patients in the new Medicare plan were getting before the new program started and not to charge more than $5 for low-income participants.
It’s too early to tell if the new policy has eased the problems for low-income seniors nationally, but Tool says any Coloradans with problems can call the federal 800-MEDICARE hotline to seek help. Seniors not eligible for Medicaid but who have questions about the new drug benefit can call the state Senior Health Insurance Assistance Program toll-free at 888-696-7213. Medicare also provides information at www.medicare.gov.
