Many eligible beneficiaries not in Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Subsidy Program

CMS and the Social Security Administration must improve efforts to enroll eligible Medicare beneficiaries in a subsidy program under the prescription drug benefit, Senate Special Committee on Aging Chair Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) said on Wednesday at a hearing of the committee, CQ HealthBeat reports.

Medicare beneficiaries must apply through SSA to enroll in the subsidy program, which provides financial assistance to beneficiaries with low incomes and few assets.

Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the subsidy program can lose eligibility in the event that they become ineligible for Medicaid, the supplemental security income program or the Medicare savings program.

In such cases, Medicare beneficiaries must reapply to enroll in the subsidy program. About 600,000 Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the subsidy program in 2006 must reapply to enroll in 2007, Kohl said.

"And since the application process is so onerous, we know that some seniors will simply give up," he said, adding, "As we enter the second year of the Medicare drug benefit, we have an obligation to make sure it is working for all seniors but particularly for our poorest seniors, who need help the most. We are not there today."

According to a National Council on Aging report released at the hearing, between 3.4 million and 4.4 million Medicare beneficiaries qualify for, but have not enrolled in, the subsidy program.

The report also found that about 2.9 million Medicare beneficiaries who have not enrolled in the prescription drug benefit have no other medication coverage. Kohl said the hearing marked the first of a series in which the committee will seek "to fix the problems with Medicare's prescription drug program so that seniors can finally enjoy a simple, affordable benefit."