USA: Six in Ten Seniors Don't Understand the Drug Benefit

Mass Confusion over Medicare prescription drug benefit CHICAGO (Chicago Tribune), November 15, 2005: After months of buildup seniors may begin signing up for the Medicare prescription drug benefit. In many States, seniors face dozens of different plans from a wide array of big-name insurance companies. Each plan will have a list of drugs for which a company will pay. A recent survey found that more than six in 10 seniors don't understand the drug benefit at all, or not too well. After months of buildup--and much confusion--seniors may begin signing up for the Medicare prescription drug benefit. This is not a day to celebrate. The benefit is so confusing and so ineptly constructed that many seniors are likely to take a pass, at least initially. They've been bombarded with information, urged to navigate through impenetrable Web sites and been given incomplete or wrong advice on the Medicare telephone hot line. After all the barnstorming by administration officials, after scores of local information sessions run by community groups, most seniors still don't understand the benefit. A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health found that more than six in 10 seniors don't understand the drug benefit at all, or not too well. There's a lot of fine print to be puzzled over and a lot of figures to be calculated. In most states, seniors face dozens of different plans from a wide array of big-name insurance companies. Each plan will have a list of drugs for which a company will pay. Most plans will cover most of the top 100 drugs taken by seniors. After that, there are lots of differences among the plans, including what they charge for premiums, copayments and deductibles.