Help Is on the Way for Medicare Drug Coverage

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Confused about the new Medicare prescription drug coverage? A new source of help is on the way.

A national coalition of senior and consumer advocacy groups said Tuesday it will dispatch a fleet of vans equipped with wireless computers and trained staff to North Carolina and 26 other states.

The goal: to help Medicare enrollees understand the optional prescription drug coverage, which takes effect Jan. 1. Vans should start rolling into the Triangle and Charlotte areas by mid-December.

The education campaign -- "My Medicare Matters" -- comes a week after people enrolled in Medicare began signing up for the new prescription benefits. Many older adults have complained that the program is overly complex, and some advocates fear that people who would be helped by the benefit will throw their hands up and fail to sign up.

"Doing nothing ... is not the right response for America," said James L. Firman, president of the National Council on the Aging and chairman of the Access to Benefits Coalition, a collection of more than 100 groups that is coordinating the campaign.

My Medicare Matters, which is supported by a $10 million grant from pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, will aim to help people enrolled in Medicare get the information they need to make an informed choice about whether to sign up for Medicare Part D, as the new prescription coverage is known.

Its counselors will do that largely by helping people tap existing online resources, such as the Medicare drug plan finder that is available at www.medicare.gov. People can punch in the medicines they take and compare prescription plans available in their area by cost and coverage, greatly simplifying comparison shopping.

However, few Medicare enrollees are using the online tool or any of the other information Medicare makes available at its Internet site. A national survey of Medicare members conducted recently by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health found that just 6 percent of respondents had even visited the Web site.

My Medicare Matters will supplement existing education and outreach efforts in North Carolina. The largest single resource now operating in the state is the N.C. Seniors' Health Insurance Information Program, which has seen the number of calls to its information line, at (800) 443-9354, nearly triple in recent weeks, largely because of questions about Medicare Part D.

"Anything that is going to result in [North Carolina] having additional counselors who are educated and can help people is wonderful," said Carla Obiol, the SHIIP program's director. "The magnitude of this program change is so great we almost can't have enough help."