Press Release             

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Deane Beebe
Communications Director
212-204-6219
E-mail
Medicare Rights Center

April 13, 2006

Secretary Leavitt Can and Should Eliminate the Drug Benefit

Enrollment Deadline, Consumer Group Reports

[New York, NY]– With 14 million Americans with Medicare still without prescription drug coverage, the Medicare Rights Center is calling on Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to extend the Medicare Part D enrollment period past the May 15 deadline until December 31, 2006.

The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 gives the Secretary the authority to extend the Medicare drug benefit enrollment deadline, by calling for a “special enrollment period,” explains a new policy brief by the national consumer service organization.

“The Secretary must not turn his back on the millions of Americans who need drug coverage,” said Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center. “People continue to be paralyzed by the array of confusing private drug plan choices and anxious that they will be locked into a plan that does not meet their needs.”

Extending the Medicare drug benefit enrollment deadline, would also automatically give people enrolled in Medicare private drug plans the right to switch plans when plans change their formularies, by eliminating or restricting covered drugs, or when a new illness, diagnosis, or prescription makes the current plan inappropriate.

Currently, people enrolled in a private drug plan are locked into that plan from May 15 until the end of the year, regardless of whether the plan changes its formulary or if their health condition requires medications not covered by the plan.

“The enrollment deadline might be useful for private insurers that want to maximize profits but it’s harmful to older and disabled Americans who want to make an informed decision about which plan best meets their needs,” said Mr. Hayes.

The Secretary does not have the authority to eliminate the premium penalty, according to the Medicare Rights Center’s analysis, but it found that if the Secretary calls for a special enrollment period, it would eliminate the penalty for those who enroll in a Medicare private drug plan with 63 days from May 15 and reduce it for those who enroll after the 63 days.

Secretary Leavitt has already authorized a special enrollment period for low-income people with Medicare who qualify for “extra help,” which allows them to enroll in a drug plan after May 15, a move praised by Mr. Hayes.

The Part D Enrollment Deadline Can and Should be Lifted is available on the Medicare Rights Center’s website.

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