WEDNESDAY, May 10, 2006 (HealthDay News) -- Medicare officials announced Wednesday that they are getting close to enrolling 90 percent of those eligible for their new prescription drug plan, with 37 million Americans now on board as the enrollment deadline looms.
After Monday, most new sign-ups will be charged a higher premium for enrollment in Medicare Part D, as the plan is called, although Medicare officials have just said they will waive that penalty for low-income beneficiaries who sign up later.
"There are likely 3 million people who are [still] eligible for the low-income subsidy and for who we are going to continue to do outreach efforts before or after May 15," Dr. Mark McClellan, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a press conference Wednesday.
He said the agency estimates that close to another 3 million Americans with higher incomes are also eligible but have not yet enrolled.
Experts estimate that about 43 million Americans are eligible for Medicare Part D.
McClellan said inquiries and sign-ups have accelerated over the past few weeks and days, with the agency's toll-free sign-up line, 1-800-Medicare, taking a record 300,000 calls this past Monday alone. More than 1,000 Medicare-sponsored events are scheduled over the next few days across the United States, aimed at reaching eligible beneficiaries.
Despite calls to extend the May 15 deadline, President Bush has confirmed that his administration will not do so. As reported by the Associated Press, Bush told a Florida crowd on Tuesday that, "Deadlines are important. Deadlines help people understand there's finality and people need to get after it."
Not everyone was enthused with the new numbers cited by Medicare, however.
Judith Stein, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Center for Medicare Advocacy, called the 37 million enrollment figure nothing more than "cheerleading" that is "not helpful."
According to Stein, that's because the figure includes about 28 million people who didn't "affirmatively" sign up on their own, but were automatically enrolled because they were already receiving some form of drug coverage from Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, an employer, or the Veterans' Administration, among others.
Medicare officials acknowledge that just 9 million of the 37 million people enrolled in Part D had no drug plan prior to their active enrollment and have now signed on for "stand-alone" plans.
Statistics from by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation estimate that a total of 17.5 million Americans without any identifiable source of drug coverage were eligible for Part D this year.
According to Stein, that means there are still 8.5 million eligible Americans without drug coverage who have yet to sign up for the cost-saving plan.
"So, it looks to me that what we are going to find out is that somewhat less than two-thirds of the people who are eligible who had no other coverage and had to make an affirmative decision to enroll, actually enrolled," she said.
Stein agreed that the government has done much to advertise the plan and get people to enroll over the past few months. "Unfortunately, there hasn't been a lot of recognition that [signing up] needs a lot of time and resources -- it's not as easy as 1-2-3," she said.
In many states, consumers must choose between dozens of competing private insurance plans, each with different drug-coverage options.
The bottom line, according to Stein: Medicare's Part D roll-out "has been a very good PR campaign, but it's not been a very effective campaign if the goal was to get people to understand and enroll and to know how to use Part D."
But McLellan said the effort to round up more enrollees will continue "feverishly" all this week and through the weekend.
"Many of the state health assistance programs and many of our other partners will be open over the weekend and will be holding late office hours -- some are even staying open till midnight on Monday," he said.
His boss, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, spoke to reporters from a bus outside Detroit as he was shuttled to a Part D event in Lansing, Mich.
He said there are "three simple steps that people need to follow in getting their decisions made: first is to get their prescription drugs together; second is to find their Medicare card; and the third is to dial 1-800-Medicare or go online at www.medicare.gov" to sign up.
McClellan believes many Part D late-comers may have not felt the urgency of getting themselves into the drug plan, or they may have simply procrastinated.
"There are folks who aren't taking many drugs now but who are focusing in [now] because they want to get protection for the future at the lowest cost," he said. "Signing up for health insurance may not be the most fun thing they'll do today, but they know it's very important."
More information
For help on understanding Medicare Part D, head to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
