"In addition, Internet access and a print out of plans alone, are still not enough," McCutchen cautions. "Seniors also have an enormous need for impartial counseling to help them select the best plan and maneuver Part D's tangled layers of rules, and restrictions," he says. "Enrollment for virtually all seniors and the folks that are helping alike is turning into a massive ordeal."

President Bush has promoted the plan, saying that the new program can cut drug costs in half for a typical beneficiary to $1,120 a year with much greater savings for low-income beneficiaries.[2] "That's only true for seniors who get the right help", says TSCL's Social Security and Medicare Advisor newsletter editor, Mary Johnson.

Mary, who has more than 11 years of Medicare expertise, recently helped her neighbor, Irene, through the process. Irene received notification that her former drug coverage was ending and she would have to replace it with a Medicare Part D plan. Irene has no computer or Internet access and was getting worried about what to do. Through Mary's efforts, Irene was able to learn she had a choice of 45 drug plans that covered the three drugs she took. Counting premiums, deductibles and drug costs, the plans ranged in price, from $1,035 to $3,119 per year for the same three drugs.

With Mary's help, Irene selected a plan that should allow her to save about $1,244 in drug costs in 2006, barring any changes. If the new drug plan works as anticipated, Irene will pay a total of $385.08 this year in premiums, a $250 deductible, and $288 this year in drug co-pays, or a total of $1,035.

"Even though I fully understood how complicated this process would be, I was still stunned. It took me more than 12 hours to find and confirm the details required to make an informed enrollment decision. I encountered my own fair share of confusing and conflicting information. If it takes me that long and I got confused, how can our government expect seniors, without Medicare expertise, and their families to make wise decisions?" Mary asks. "Unless folks get help from volunteer insurance counselors at senior centers or through local Area Agencies on Aging, they can easily wind up spending two or three times more than they need to," Mary points out.

TSCL says the complexity of the new drug program is an obstruction to enrollment, and TSCL's grassroots membership is pressing Congress to waive the penalty for late enrollment. Recently, legislation was introduced in the Senate to extend the initial enrollment deadline. "We urge seniors to ask their Members of Congress to support S.1841 introduced in the Senate by Bill Nelson (FL)," says McCutchen. This legislation would extend the deadline for initial enrollment in the drug benefit by up to six months to avoid a late enrollment penalty. It would also allow beneficiaries to switch plans if they find a better one. Please join us in asking Congress to Simplify Our Drug Benefit!" McCutchen adds.

TSCL is a national group of politically active seniors concerned about the protection of their earned Social Security, Medicare, and other retirement benefits. TSCL members participate in a number of grassroots lobbying and public education campaigns designed to ensure governmental bodies, including the Social Security Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, live up to their commitments. For more free information on our organization, please contact TREA Senior Citizens League, Department S609B, 909 N. Washington St., Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314, or visit our website at: www.tscl.org.

[1] Elderly Confused by Medicare Prescription Plan, John Yang, ABC, November 13, 2005. [2] "Confusion is Rife About Drug Plan as Sign-Up Nears, Robert Pear, The New York Times, November 13, 2005.

Distributed by The Senior Exchange, Inc.
Serving The Mature American With Timely, Low-Cost, Self-Help Information

November 2005