Seniors Scramble As Medicare Deadline Nears

CBS2CHICAGO ^ | 7 MAY 2006 | AP

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

(AP) ELLETTSVILLE, Ind. With time running out to enroll in the federal government's new prescription drug benefit, advocates for the elderly say they are being inundated with phone calls and last-minute visits from seniors.

"The last two weeks have been crazy," said Jason Carnes, the center developer for the Area 10 Agency on Aging, where calls and visits have been running about twice the normal number.

Last week, President Bush and other administration officials urged an estimated 6 million to 7 million Medicare beneficiaries still without prescription drug coverage to enroll by May 15.

Under the program, 43 million elderly and disabled beneficiaries can enroll in a private plan that will subsidize the cost of their medicine. The savings vary depending upon one's prescription drug needs, income and the plan chosen.

Medicare officials claim the average enrollee will save about $1,100 a year.

In Indiana, many seniors say they have been deluged by mail from insurance companies promoting their prescription plans. Indiana alone has 43 such plans.

"It was confusing and overwhelming for me," said Sally Rudy, 74, of Fort Wayne.

She and her housemate, Eunice Conrad, 76, said they put off making a decision on the prescription plans because they take only a handful of medications.

Still, to be safe, both Conrad and Rudy enrolled in plans last week. Neither expects to save a lot of money in the near future.

Donna Cusick, development coordinator for the Allen County Council on Aging, said she has spoken to "well over 1,000" people either face-to-face or on the phone about the plans.

Some seniors are now saving hundreds of dollars a month on medications, while others, Cusick said, are paying more into the plan than they are getting out -- the necessary reality of any viable insurance plan.

On the whole, Cusick said the plans' early implementation problems have given way to a smoother system. The problems included computer glitches that kept some consumers from accessing their new benefits, prescription plan cards that didn't get sent and problems selecting plans.

"It was just chaos the first few weeks (in January)," she said.

Carnes, with the Ellettsville Agency on Aging, feels that many of the 11th-hour pleas for help the group has seen in the past week are coming from people who believed the May 15 deadline would be extended -- something Rep. Steve Buyer and other legislators had mentioned was possible.

"There are still rumors the deadline will be pushed back, but it now looks like that's not going to happen," Carnes said. "People don't want to pay the late enrollment fee penalty."

The penalty fee would add at least 1 percent of the national average monthly drug premium to a recipient's premium for every month they could have enrolled but did not.

Recipients would continue paying the penalty fee -- which increases each year along with the average premium -- for as long as they have Medicare drug coverage.

James Jackson, a 67-year-old Bloomington man who takes prescription inhalants for emphysema, said he was experiencing some deadline anxiety before making several calls to Carnes last week.

On Friday, thanks to Carnes' counsel, Jackson signed up for a Humana plan in which he will pay only a $12 monthly premium.

[Spunky]

Just checking to find out if you were able to get your Dad signed up and if you were able to work your way through the Medicare.gov site to find out the best plan for him?

[syriacus]

officials claim the average enrollee will save about $1,100 a year.

My mother will save $250 per month, or $3000 per year.

I wish I would have checked the medicare.gov webpages sooner.

1. When I followed the steps on the medicare site, I found they were very helpful to my chosing a plan for my mother.
2. My mother would have already saved $1000, if I hadn't listened to the rumors that I would be overwhelmed at the choice of plans.

I had collected booklets from the various plans, and unsucessfully tried to compare them on my own. The medicare website helped a great deal and even helped me determine how much my mother would save on each plan.

A woman on our local TV station said that she got the same type of help by speaking on the phone to someone at medicare.

[syriacus]

The real cost/benefit of the program won't be evident for a couple of years. The premise is that if seniors get the medication they need, they'll make less use of emergency medical services, and cost the tax payers less in the long run.

My mother cannot fathom the amount of money she will be saving.

And my daughter heard that it was better to sign up for almost any of the medicare-approved programs, than to miss the deadline, since enrollees can switch to another program at the end of the year.

It's good for folks who miss the deadline to remember that, in all likelihood, they will still end up saving a lot of money, even if they do have to pay the small penalty.

[syriacus]

Acording to my agent, unless one is already paying 800.00 a year in prescriptions, no plan is of any benefit.

People might want to enroll in the program, in case they need more prescriptions in the future.

[HIDEK6]

By the way, how come they want to stop medicines from coming across the border, but it's OK for millions of Mexicans to come in????

Note thread hijacked at post 25.

You're slipping, people!

[syriacus]

Some seniors are now saving hundreds of dollars a month on medications, while others, Cusick said, are paying more into the plan than they are getting out -

Some plans only cost $100-200/year.