Medicare Part D Needs To Do Better Than an “F” For Implementation

This new year saw the start of a Medicare drug plan (or Medicare Part D), a plan that was passed by the President against the wishes of myself and most Democrats. I did not support it then, and I continue to have serious concerns about it today.
The Republican drug plan troubled me in part because of its gaps in coverage, its privatization of the Medicare program, and its special protections for drug company profits. Moreover, my initial concerns regarding implementation of Part D has been borne out over these last few days. Republicans crafted a drug plan that is not only insufficient for many of our nation’s seniors struggling to afford their medications, but is also an implementation nightmare.
There have been a variety of Part D complications, including incorrectly printed information, long waits for assistance, and large amounts of dense details to consider. Part D implementation has been particularly difficult for those who need the most help. Unfortunately, it is those who need the most help that are running into the most problems.
Those who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid (also known as “dual eligibles”), are frequently the population group most in need of assistance. As such, they are entitled to extra help from the government. So imagine the surprise of some of my constituents — and many others across the U.S. — when they visited their local pharmacies recently, only to be told they would have to pay full price for their medications. For many of these dual eligibles who were receiving medication assistance before 2006, they would have been better off had Part D never gone into effect.
It became apparent that many dual eligibles had been wrongly removed from the Medicare system that keeps the list of those who qualify for special assistance. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which oversees Medicare, has said the error will be corrected, but they have no current timeframe for completion. In the meantime, my office and others are frequently working on a case-by-case basis to ensure that no senior who is entitled to medication assistance is being told they have to go without. In the meantime, pharmacists are frequently bearing much of the burden of tracking down information for individuals who are not showing up in the CMS system. In the meantime, seniors are left to wonder why there wasn’t a better drug plan coupled with a better plan for implementation.
My offices will continue to help my constituents in any way we can to make sure seniors get what they were promised under this Republican bill. However, I encourage us all to consider if there isn’t a better way, a better Part D. A Part D that is simpler. A Part D that is a clear Medicare program — not a complicated, privatized system that relies on many different private companies. Ultimately, our nation’s health relies on a healthcare system based on sense, not on a middle-of-the-night vote with far-right Republicans reassuring their own. We have already seen the negative impact of such a strategy play out in the matter of just a few days.