| Oregon_kidney 2006-09-30, 8:28 am |
| - Reuters -
Companies offer more Medicare drug plans
By Lisa Richwine
Fri Sep 29, 7:49 PM ET
Medicare patients will have more prescription drug coverage options
next year as additional companies offer plans nationwide and many
change current offerings, U.S. officials said on Friday.
Average monthly premiums will remain at about $24 a month, the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services said. More than 80 percent of patients
will have the option of cheaper premiums if they want to switch from
current coverage, officials said.
Patients happy with their current plan can stay with it without taking
any action. Those who want to sign up for drug benefits or change plans
can do so during an enrollment period that will run from November 15 to
December 31.
Some companies are raising premiums on current plans, and those seniors
could switch to another option, CMS Administrator Mark McClellan said.
Co-payments, deductibles and the drugs that are covered vary with each
plan.
"We expect most (patients) will not want to change, but we do encourage
seniors to compare their current plans with the new offerings,"
McClellan told reporters.
Medicare is a federal health insurance program that covers 42 million
elderly and disabled Americans. Signing up for prescription drug
benefits that started in 2006 is optional.
Critics say too many choices are confusing, and patients will have even
more options in 2007. Seventeen companies will offer plans nationwide,
up from nine this year. Combined with regional plans, dozens of
alternatives will be available in many states.
"The incredible confusion that persisted in the past year about the
Medicare drug program is about to get worse. There will be more plans
to choose from, and those plans will continue to be different from one
another," said Ron Pollack, executive director of consumer group
Families USA.
The companies that offer Medicare drug plans include Aetna Inc., Cigna
Corp., Caremark Rx Inc., Wellpoint Inc., and UnitedHealth Group.
Pollack said some plans that charged the lowest premiums in 2006 were
sharply boosting them for next year. One plan in Maryland, for example,
increased the monthly premium from $6.44 to $13, he said.
A glitch Medicare had encountered - ensuring that the right premiums
get paid to drug plans - may be resolved soon. Many of the payments are
supposed to be taken out of monthly Social Security checks, but the
process has not gone smoothly.
Senate Aging Committee Chairman Gordon Smith, an Oregon Republican,
said after a meeting Friday with Medicare and Social Security officials
that the problem should be fixed starting next month.
Back payments will be taken out of the checks over three months. Very
poor patients will be able to make arrangements to spread out the
payments even longer, Smith said. If premiums are not paid correctly,
people can lose their coverage.
(Additional reporting by Joanne Kenen)
Copyright =A9 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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