Originally published February 21 2006
States respond to confusion created by new Medicare drug program
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
State governments like California have taken the initiative in light of the problems arising from the new Medicare prescription drug program by covering the cost of drugs for seniors who are being rejected at pharmacies because of glitches in the plan's system.
In a call with reporters, Leavitt said enrollment in the program, called Medicare Part D, exceeded expectations and put the administration "well on track to meet our goal of enrolling 28 to 30 million in the first year."
Last year, officials predicted 39 million seniors and disabled people would participate, according to documents published in the Federal Register on Jan. 28, 2005.
Seniors have until May 15 to enroll.
Even as federal leaders touted the enrollment figures, state officials and health care experts continued to report widespread difficulties, especially for the poorest and sickest seniors who were forced to switch from state Medicaid programs to the new Medicare plans on Jan. 1.
Arnold Schwarzenegger said California will spend as much as $150 million to provide medications to as many as 1 million low-income seniors who have been turned away by pharmacists or overcharged co-payments because of glitches in computer databases.
"Right now, the new Medicare Part D prescription drug program is not working as intended," the governor said in a release.
Leavitt conceded that HHS caseworkers have responded to tens of thousands of complaints by seniors, pharmacists and others who could not get the correct medications at the correct price.
To do that, HHS has hired thousands of customer service representatives and set up special phone lines for pharmacists.
It also has notified insurers that if a drug is not going to be covered, the plans must provide a 30-day "transitional" supply until the patient's physician can recommend a comparable medicine that is covered.
Precise figures are not available, but government officials and researchers at health care think tanks said pharmacists were filling hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for previously eligible Medicare recipients before the Jan. 1 start of the new program.
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