For Immediate Release:

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Medicare Part D: Making It Work for Oklahoma

More than 100 constituents visited my district office last Wednesday seeking help with the new Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage program.  At my request, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a bus of trained counselors to my office to provide enrollment counseling for seniors.  Although I was not in Congress when Medicare Part D was enacted, I want to make sure this program is working for Oklahomans and that they are getting the answers and solutions they need. 

 

Since taking office last year, I’ve become increasingly concerned about the problems and complexities of Medicare D.  In town hall meetings and conversations across the Second District, reactions to the program have ranged from frustration to fear and anger.  Seniors in Oklahoma are struggling to sort through as many as 42 different plans offered by 16 private insurers, adding bewildering choices to an already dreadfully confusing process. 

     

Additionally, the automatic switchover of more than six million recipients from state-run Medicaid programs to the new federal program has been disturbingly problematic.  Along the way, as data bounced from one bureaucracy’s set of computers to the next, there have been reports that some Oklahomans were incorrectly added to prescription drug plan databases and that others were dropped from the system all together.

 

This has led to higher co-payments for drugs and pharmacists to fill prescriptions with no guarantee they will be reimbursed by insurance companies.  One Second District pharmacist has filled more than $30,000 in prescriptions for patients who lack full prescription coverage under Medicare because they were not identified by their plan.  

 

Recently, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt announced that states will be reimbursed for covering prescription drug costs.  This was an important first step, but there has been no announcement that individuals and pharmacists will be reimbursed by insurers for additional costs because of problems with the plan database.  Patients, pharmacists and state governments should not be penalized because the agency administering this program was not fully prepared. 

 

Disappointed by these reports, I recently called upon CMS Administrator Mark McClellan to help our pharmacists and seniors transition to this new program correctly and more efficiently.  I have also signed onto legislation to give seniors more time to choose a Medicare drug plan without facing increased costs.  If passed, the Medicare Informed Choice Act would give recipients a full year to get the facts and wade through their choices.   

 

Meanwhile, I encourage everyone to take their time and learn their options as they try to make informed decisions about their prescription drug needs.  It’s important to know there are places to turn for counseling when evaluating options.  I recommend the Oklahoma State Health Insurance Program at (800) 763-2828. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also has a help line for beneficiaries at (800) 633-4227.

 

Today, too many seniors have to make the unthinkable choice between paying rent, buying groceries or paying for their prescription medications. No Oklahoman should have to make that terrible choice.  A Medicare drug plan should lower costs, provide security, and let beneficiaries buy the drugs their doctors prescribe.  As Congress reconvenes, I will to continue working to improve the existing law so that Oklahoma seniors get the coverage they deserve. 

 

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