Pa. Lawmakers Criticize New Medicare Prescription Benefit Stipulation
Posted on: Friday, 2 September 2005, 18:00 CDT
Sep. 1--HARRISBURG -- As of now, Pennsylvania seniors who use the state's PACE and PACENET prescription drug programs will have to sign up separately for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit set to begin next year -- even though the two programs provide overlapping benefits.
It's confusing to older people and an inefficient use of taxpayer resources, according to two state lawmakers from Northeastern Pennsylvania.
State Senate Minority Leader Robert J. Mellow, D-Peckville, and state Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, say they want Congress to insist that PACE and PACENET enrollees be automatically enrolled in the new Medicare Part D prescription drug program.
"PACE and PACNET-eligible seniors should not have to face even more confusion by dual enrolling in a federal program that overlaps our own," Mellow said. "Through automatic enrollment, we will be saving money, avoiding complexity and potentially enabling more seniors to join the very successful and low-cost program."
But Medicare administrators have denied Pennsylvania's request for automatic enrollment into one Medicare plan, claiming it would restrict senior citizens' choices among the 20 or so plans that will be available to Medicare recipients.
Enrollment for the new Medicare drug benefit opens Nov. 15 with coverage beginning on Jan. 1.
Mellow noted that the PACE and PACENET programs, which currently have nearly 300,000 Pennsylvania enrollees, already give seniors options for their drugs and said the overlap of Medicare would be unnecessary and confusing.
In a letter to Pennsylvania's congressional delegation, Mellow said that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which will administer the Medicare drug program, should reverse its decision.
Yudichak said this week that he plans to introduce a resolution in the state House, urging the federal government to reverse its decision and allow automatic enrollment. He noted that an automatic enrollment program was used when the Medicare drug discount card was introduced last year.
"There's no reason why they couldn't use the same efficient process again," Yudichak said.
In addition to improving efficiency and reducing confusion, Yudichak said automatic enrollment would also save the state millions of dollars. That's because Medicare enrollees would receive their drug benefits from Medicare first. The PACE and PACENET programs would then be used to fill in the gaps of the Medicare plan, rather than providing the entire coverage.
"This would be a sensible way to provide needed coverage to seniors and control the ever-rising costs of health care while eliminating the federal government's unnecessary red tape," he said. "We need to persuade Congress, in particular the Pennsylvania delegation, to convince the Medicare administrators to reverse the decision."
-----
To see more of The Times Leader, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesleader.com.
Copyright (c) 2005, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.
Source: The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)
Related Articles
- Medicare Drug Plan Enrollment Released
- Statement By AARP CEO Bill Novelli on Medicare Drug Benefit Enrollment Numbers
- PCMA Statement on CBO Cost Estimate of Extending the Medicare Drug- Benefit Enrollment Deadline
- Medicare Drug Benefit Enrollments Rise
- Bush: Medicare Drug Changes Saving Money
- As Medicare Tangles, State Guarantees Prescriptions
- Cleveland Area Organizations to Kick Off Medicare Drug Benefit Enrollment Campaign
- Medicare Drug Benefit Enrollment Begins
- Medicare Drug Card Enrollment Falls Short
- Groups: Medicare Drug Card Enrollment Low
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds