By Marley Seaman
Hundreds of local seniors and children of seniors attended the McCarthy¹s workshop, her fourth in the last several months. While McCarthy criticized Part D, she said it was important that seniors have some form of prescription drug coverage even if they are healthy.
Enrolling for Part D is quite confusing and many seniors are putting off finding the best plan for them,² McCarthy said, adding that it is important that they sign up for that coverage soon. Seniors who do not enroll in Part D by May 15 will see their costs increase at a rate of one percent for each month they waited. McCarthy said she is working with other Democrats in Congress to have that deadline extended by six more months.
Three healthcare professionals spoke at the workshop to explain the details of Part D. Edo Branach, General Counsel of the Medicare Rights Center, told the audience that they had to become advocates to get the care they need
³After the initial glitches die down [from citizens enrolling], people are still going to be faced with the problem of getting their drugs from companies that don¹t want to give them the drugs,² he said.
Branach added that seniors who were able to get prescription drug coverage from other sources, such as Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) or a union, should do so.
³It¹s probably a good idea if you don¹t have to be in this system, which is a bit confusing,² he said. ³There¹s no need to be in that world.²
Medicare Part D was created when Congress passed the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act in 2003. It went into effect on Jan. 1 of 2006. Seniors in New York who are on Medicare can choose from some four dozen plans that will help pay for prescription drugs.
Alicia Forbes, a beneficiary outreach coordinator for Empire Blue Medicare, demonstrated the Medicare Web site, which allows senior citizens to compare plans and determine what medications are covered by each plan. She also suggested the Medicare hotline as a resource.
Another valuable resource, said speaker Judith Beizer, is the pharmacist. Beizer, a clinical professor at St. John¹s University, can help seniors find alternatives to medications they need if those medications are not covered by their drug plans.
³That sometimes can save the patient a lot of money, and also save a lot of headaches for all involved,² Beizer said
Local pharmacies are doing what they can to make sure seniors get the best coverage possible.
³To most seniors who aren¹t computer-literate, it¹s a huge maze to figure out which of the 50-some odd plans that are available to senior in New York,² said Howard Jacobson of the West Hempstead Pharmacy. Jacobson said that his pharmacy uses the newest technology to help. With a customer¹s Medicare ID card and zip code, the pharmacy can get a list of which medications a patient is using, which plans provide coverage for those medications, detail the strength and dosage of the drugs, and learn how much the patient needs each month.
³There¹s a lot of intricacies, there¹s a lot of things about this Medicare Part D that aren¹t so self-evident,² Jacobson said.
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