Prometheus 6

The Confusing Cost of Medicare's Drug Plan
Some seniors wrestling with the government's confusing new prescription plan now must also contend with misleading price quotes
By DOUGLAS WALLER/WASHINGTON

Signing up for Medicare's new prescription drug benefit has been challenging enough for the nation's 43 million eligible seniors. In most states they must wade through 40 different insurance plans, and the best way to compare prices and enroll is through the Internet — unfamiliar territory for many elderly. The government has also been so slow in confirming applicants' eligibility that some enrollees may not have their necessary ID cards when the program begins next month. Now, as the initial December 31 enrollment deadline fast approaches, comes another headache: Consumer groups say they're getting an increasing number of complaints from seniors that drug plan prices listed on Medicare's website differ from prices quoted by the private insurers running the plans. "There have been a lot of instances of huge discrepancies," says Hilary Dalin, counseling director for one of those consumer groups, Health Assistance Partnership.

Earlier this month Maine Republican Senator Olympia Snowe sent an angry letter to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services complaining of "inaccurate and misleading" pricing information. When one of her constituents, Caren Reed, signed onto medicare.gov to help her 85-year-old mother-in-law find a plan covering her eight prescription drugs, the website listed Fox Insurance Co.'s as the cheapest, at $2,850 annually for her copays, premiums and coverage gaps. But when Reed phoned the Scottsdale, Arizona company, she says a representative told her the yearly cost would actually be $4,232. "How can anyone make an intelligent decision when you have misinformation?" asks Reed, a retired attorney.