Poll: Most Find New Drug Plan Difficult *** Two-Thirds Say Its Hard to Understand

By WILL LESTER

Poll: Most find new drug plan difficult *** Two-thirds say its hard to understand

WASHINGTON Most people, particularly senior citizens, say they are having a hard time understanding the new Medicare prescription drug program, an AP-Ipsos poll found.

The drug benefit requires people to choose from among dozens of competing private insurance plans. Along with senior citizens, those most likely to acknowledge difficulties live in rural areas or are college graduates.

I pretty much completed a masters degree in psychology and I cant understand it, said Raymond Lloyd, a Republican-leaning retiree from Silt, Colo. For the elderly who dont have their full faculties and the poor people who are not well educated, God help em.

More than half, 52 percent, of respondents say they think the program that began enrolling people on Jan. 1 is tough to understand.

Two-thirds of older people surveyed and two-thirds of those who have signed up say they are confused by the program, which is intended to help many save more on their prescription drugs.

A third said they had not decided what they think of the new program and 16 percent said they have little trouble figuring out the program.

One who finds it easy to understand is Kathy Herndon of Savannah, Ga., who has worked for three decades in a dentists office.

Im sure it would be confusing unless youre used to dealing with it, she said.

The poorest people in the program have a specific plan chosen at first for them; those with higher incomes have to pick one. People who struggle with a selection often turn to their pharmacists.

Marlene Brantley, a pharmacist from Arnaudville, La., said that serving Hurricane Katrina evacuees seemed like a walk in the park when compared with helping Medicare beneficiaries in recent weeks.

She said there are too many plans and too many lists of available drugs, forcing pharmacists to spend a lot of time trying to determine if people are eligible for a particular plan.

If we dont get help, I see us all throwing up our hands and quitting, Brantley said at a Capitol Hill hearing last week sponsored by Democrats.

Soon after enrollment opened, it became apparent there was widespread confusion, so the government increased from 150 to 4,000 the number of workers at a pharmacy help line. Questions also can go through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 1-800- Medicare or http://www.cms.hhs.gov or local aging agencies.

The publics understanding of the program is one of several problems that have plagued the Bush administrations initiative.

Tens of thousands of elderly poor people have had trouble getting their medicine after they were canceled from Medicaid prescription drug coverage but not properly listed as eligible in the new program.

Medicare spokesman Gary Karr said millions of people are getting their prescription drugs through the new program, despite the glitches.

We certainly acknowledge there have been some problems, Karr said. This is a $30-$40 billion program. Its a big transition for many people.