The newest tools designed to assist
beneficiaries in evaluating a prescription
drug plan that makes sense for them,
apparently have some holes, according to a
recent report in The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reports the "Prescription Drug
Plan Finder" tool is without benefit of some
key pieces of information – namely which
drugs each plan covers and at what rates.
Additionally, another tool, the "Prescription
Drug Plan Cost Estimator" is apparently
programmed with a factor that may cause the
program to return inaccurate cost estimates.
The Medicare Rights Center (MRC), a New
York-based consumer service group, used
four different cost calculators (from
Medicare, AARP, GOP Medicare, and
Kaiser Family Foundation) to estimate costs
and savings for a "test" subject. The cost
estimates ranged from $1,357 to $1,967.76
and the savings estimates ranged from
$1,080 to $1,690.76. These variations
indicate the tools are indeed to be used only
for calculating approximations – not
determining specific costs. In defense of
Medicare's calculation tool, a spokesman
stated the intent of the tool is to simply
answer the question, "Is [a drug plan]
generally going to offer me savings?"
The MRC also issued a recommendation to
avoid using the drug plan finder tool
altogether. A spokesman for the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
indicated they were still receiving
information and the plan providers were "cleaning up" the data they were providing.
CMS anticipates having updated and
complete information in November, prior to
the date enrollments are set to begin.
Source: WSJ.com/Sunday with The Denver
Post, 10-30-05
