While few seniors plan to switch plans for Part D, large majority view benefit as too complicated, cite too many plans

As we approach the Dec. 31 close of the Medicare drug benefit open enrollment period, a new survey suggests that few seniors intend to switch plans for 2007. Key findings include:

One in 20 seniors (5%) who are enrolled in a Medicare drug plan say they expect to switch plans for 2007, compared with 66% who do not expect to switch and 29% who are uncertain..

Overall, three in four seniors (76%) enrolled in a plan say that their experiences have been positive, including 46% who say they have been “very positive.”

Slightly more than half of seniors who have used their new drug plan say that they are saving money (52%), compared with 14% who say they are paying more for their prescriptions.

Nearly one in four seniors (23%) who have used their plans say that they encountered a problem with the new benefit, with 12% saying it was a major problem. 

Almost three in four seniors (73%) say that the Medicare drug benefit is “too complicated.” About four in 10 seniors (39%) say that there are too many plans available to people with Medicare, compared with 15% who say there are too few and 32% who say the number of plans is the right number.

When asked whether they thought Medicare should offer seniors dozens of plans so people can select their own plan to meet their needs or whether Medicare should select a handful of plans that meet certain standards so seniors have an easier time choosing, seniors are twice as likely to say they prefer the more limited number of plans (60% vs. 31%).

Among all seniors, 42% view the drug benefit favorably, compared to 34% who view it unfavorably. That represents the highest level of favorability recorded in a series of 13 surveys of seniors conducted since the Medicare drug law was enacted in 2003.

The survey, which assessed seniors’ views of and experiences with the Medicare drug benefit, was conducted November 9-19 by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. It included a nationally representative sample of 718 seniors, including 275 who reported being enrolled in a Medicare drug plan. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points for all seniors, and plus or minus 7 percentage points for seniors enrolled in the Medicare drug benefit.

The questions about experiences under the Medicare drug benefit were part of a larger survey on the public’s health agenda for Congress and the presidential campaign. Full survey results are available online.

The Kaiser Family Foundation also released a new report, based on interviews with 35 Medicare beneficiaries, that describes their understanding of and experiences with the Medicare drug benefit. The report finds that drug plan enrollees say they are generally satisfied with their drug coverage, though some have encountered problems such as difficulty getting their medications or paying higher-than-expected out-of-pocket costs. Many do not understand the details of their drug plan, including whether their plan has a coverage gap, commonly known as the “doughnut hole.” Most enrollees say they do not intend to reassess their drug plan options and will remain in their current plan for 2007.

The report is the third from a year-long series of one-on-one structured interviews with a diverse group of Medicare beneficiaries in four cities: Baltimore, Miami, Sacramento, California; and Lincoln, Nebraska.  The Kaiser Family Foundation commissioned Lake Research Partners and American Viewpoint to conduct these interviews. The report, Voices of Beneficiaries: Medicare Part D Insights and Observations One Year Later, is available online.