Medicare drug cards may trigger headaches

March 21, 2004

As the government prepares to roll out a vast new Medicare drug plan in

June, consumer groups are warning that the program is so complicated that it

promises to confuse many of the vulnerable older people who need it the

most. ... private companies issuing the cards - insurance firms, HMOs and

others - will be able to raise or lower discounts on a weekly basis.

Although the companies can make changes, seniors won't have that privilege:

Once they sign up, they'll be required to stick with a single Medicare card

for a full year. ... Already, fraudulent marketing activities preying on

seniors have begun. In some parts of the country, including Alabama,

Georgia, Idaho, Nebraska, New York and Rhode Island, unscrupulous

salespeople have been peddling unauthorized Medicare cards, according to

government officials. ... The cards will be available until 2006, when the

second phase of the program - government payments for a portion of seniors'

drug costs - gets under way and the discount programs end. ... experts

anticipate that at least a dozen card companies will start barraging seniors

with advertisements and sales pitches come May. Nationally, 106

organizations - including AARP, which already offers a separate drug

discount card - have signed up to participate in the program. The list of

final participants is to be announced by the end of March. ... the program

is extremely complex. Benefits - including drugs covered, the extent of

discounts and pharmacies accepting the card - will vary depending on the

companies offering the cards. And every week, companies can raise or lower

the discounts offered and change the drugs covered, government officials

confirm. ... Medicare agency plans to put comparative benefits and pricing

data for the discount cards on the Internet, updated weekly. Consumers will

be able to plug in the prescriptions they use and get a list of Medicare

cards that cover those drugs, along with anticipated discounts. Because

terms of each discount card can vary so significantly, however, " it'll be

like comparing apples to oranges to avocados, " said , president

of the Medicare Rights Center. ... the potential for " a little old lady

coming to a pharmacy with five different (discount drug) cards in her

wallet, and asking the pharmacist `Which one should I use?' "

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