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--- Medicare-Approved Drug Discount Cards
CMS Outreach wrote: > Hello, > > I thought this group would be interested in some information about > Medicare and the new prescription drug benefits that are available. > If you or someone you know is on Medicare, this information may be of > use to you. > > Medicare recipients can now sign up for a Medicare-approved drug > discount card, which may save them 10-25 percent on their > prescription drug expenses. In addition, low-income seniors are > eligible for a credit of up to $600 on their prescription drug > purchases. > > Please visit http://www.medicare.gov/cardinfo/15.htm to find out > which discount card best meets your needs, based on the type of > prescriptions you need. You can also find out if you qualify for the > $600 credit. Remember, http://www.medicare.gov is your best source > for information on the new Medicare prescription drug benefits. > > Regards, CMS Outreach onlineoutreach@cms.hhs.gov Medicare drug plan off to a slow start: In a sampling of area pharmacies, no one shopped with new discount cards http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lidrug0602,0,3680546.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines BY DAWN MACKEEN STAFF WRITER June 1, 2004, 7:56 PM EDT On the first day that seniors could use the new Medicare-approved drug cards -- touted as helping millions save money on their prescriptions -- not one person shopped with one Tuesday at a sampling of 17 pharmacies around Long Island. "No one has brought in a card and I don't think we'll be seeing one for a while," said Donna Mantovani, pharmacy technician at Pathmark in Franklin Square. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had estimated that 7.3 million seniors would sign up for the cards that provide discounts on up to 18 percent of the price of brand name drugs. As of Tuesday, the agency announced that 2.87 million people had enrolled, with about 2.4 million of them already signed up in Medicare managed care health plans. Just behind the Pathmark sits the Franklin Square Senior Center. On Saturday, Anna Cifuni walked over there and read through one of the brochures on the new program, looking up the prices of her six prescriptions. She decided to take a pass. "It didn't sway me," Cifuni said, concerned about signing up for a program she knows little about. "Medicare is putting up a front. The majority of us don't feel comfortable." So she is staying with Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC), which she is happy with, even though she qualifies for a $600 annual credit toward prescription drugs under Medicare's new program for low-income beneficiaries. To qualify, a person must make less than $12,659 and a couple less than $16,862. When the state queried Cifuni last week about automatically enrolling her in the program, the 67-year-old said she opted out, along with several neighbors who were also eligible. At the three other pharmacies that dot Franklin Avenue -- Walgreens, CVS and Duane Reade -- the situation was the same. No one walked in to fill their prescriptions with one of the 47 new cards Medicare has approved in New York State. Perhaps Medicare-approved card holders had no prescriptions that needed filling Tuesday, one pharmacist pondered. "I can't tell if it's the problem with the card or timing. But it is supposed to be starting today," said Sara Kim, pharmacist at Duane Reade in Franklin Square. Or maybe it was the confusion. With so many cards, Irina Kreychman, a pharmacist in East Northport, said there are too many choices for a senior. "They should have one card," Kreychman said. Pharmacists said seniors have been very curious about how much their drugs would cost under the new cards, which all vary widely. And distrustful because prices can change from week to week. Once seniors decide, they can't change plans until mid-November. Or maybe the slow enrollment is because federal officials overseeing the program, who are urging seniors to sign up now, earlier had told them not to rush into any decision. And pharmacists like Indira Nandoo at CVS in Sayville aren't recommending them at all. "We recommend people stick with what they have," Nandoo said. "Most of our customers have pretty good coverage already." But pharmacy benefit managers, which are offering the new cards, are optimistic that enrollment will pick up. "We had enrollment kick off, then it was hit pause and now it's play again," said Phil Blando of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association. Health officials said enrollment figures should rise shortly as states with senior drug discount programs, like New York's EPIC, enroll seniors eligible for the $600 subsidy. "We think it's successful now," Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson told reporters Tuesday, referring to the 2.8 million enrollment figures. Federal officials acknowledge that the program has had some glitches, including long waits on the agency's 1-800-MEDICARE phone line. They also estimate that it takes several days for a senior to get a card or a decision on the $600 subsidy. Constance Still, a pharmacist at King Kullen in Bohemia, threw up her hands and let out a tiny scream of frustration when the topic of prescription drug cards was mentioned. While the customers are confused, she said that pharmacists are in a similar predicament. "We really haven't received much information to know exactly what it is we're supposed to do," Still said. "Everybody is still waiting to receive information and have something definite said to them. So we're still kind of in limbo too." Staff writers Deborah Barfield Berry in Washington, Denise Bonilla and Katie Mehr contributed to this story. Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc. -- ~LadySycamore~ Co-Administrator dialyze.org: For renal patients by renal patients http://dialyze.org/forums/index.php El Ciberbosque: "Sycamore's next step in the quest for world domination" http://www.ciberbosque.org/index.php These are uncertain times. Thank goodness you're such a rock. Now don't be mad if everyone else isn't. 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