SNAFU…Even people running Part D don’t understanding it…Medicare
handbook blooper fuels confusion
“The administration has created a drug benefit that is so confusing,
even the people running Medicare can’t get it right,” so judged
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid,
(D-NV) after learning the new Medicare handbook contains an error.
Titled “Medicare and You,” the guide designed to aid seniors
mistakenly tells beneficiaries that if they qualify for an extra
subsidy for their drug costs, every plan is available to them with
no monthly premium. The truth is only 40 percent of the plans have
no premiums. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
explained they will not mail a corrected page to the 35 million
seniors who will receive the handbook, but will instead rely on
insurance companies to correct the misinformation.
A USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll taken last week reports that 61 percent
of American seniors can’t understand the new Medicare drug plan. A
paltry 37 percent understand the program at least somewhat. The
administration should also give pause to poll figures showing 54
percent of those questioned do not plan to enroll. The government
has said it hopes to sign up 30 million of the nation’s 42 million
Medicare beneficiaries.
“If the people who gave us this flawed drug benefit cannot correctly
explain it, how can they have high hopes people will enroll?” asked
Edward Coyle,
Executive Director of the Alliance. “This early confusion signals
the problems seniors are bound to encounter