List of Drug Benefit Plans Now Online
By Joy Buchanan, Daily Press, Newport News, Va.
Oct. 18–The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services updated its Web site Monday to show which prescription drug benefit plans are available in each county and city in the state.
For example, of the 18 insurance companies approved to offer plans for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit in Virginia, seven offer plans in Newport News and Hampton, but just four offer plans in Suffolk.
That information is in a 33-page file with small print. It’s more useful for doctors, pharmacists, caregivers and other elder advocates who are helping senior citizens figure out what options are available.
The file is a piece of an Internet-based tool that is supposed to help seniors sift through dozens of drug plans to find two or three that would suit them.
Other components will allow Medicare recipients to type in the names of drugs they take to find plans that cover them, but they won’t be able to compare the costs of different plans for weeks.
The complete comparison tool, including prices, originally was expected to be available by Oct. 13, but Dr. Mark McClellan, chief of CMS, now says they will be ready “well before Nov. 15″ — the first day seniors can begin to enroll in the new plans. Coverage goes into effect Jan. 1.
The tool is available at www.medicare.gov.
“They don’t understand how all of this works,” said Lisa Walker at Bay Aging, a Virginia-based non-profit organization dedicated to helping seniors.
Walker said most of the seniors who call the agency want to know if their current coverage is better than what Medicare is offering or want to know how, when or if they should sign up.
“Right now we’re telling people to start doing their homework,” she said. “Be patient because you can’t sign up yet.”
Medicare recipients who aren’t comfortable with computers can call (800) MEDICARE and talk to operators who can give them the same information they’d get online. They also can call the Virginia Insurance Counseling Assistance Project at (800) 552-3402.
—–
To see more of the Daily Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dailypress.com.
Copyright (c) 2005, Daily Press, Newport News, Va.
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.