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.
But on a practical side, for political reasons, this may be a boon for Republicans, as the Democrats will be continuing their campaign to paint the program as a failure, and they're already promising to roll it back... Which ought to bring out the largest voting bloc in the country against them.
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.