New Medicare may be a bitter pill to swallow for some

New Medicare may be a bitter pill to swallow for some

Come New Year's Day, and the launch of the new Medicare prescription drug plan might bring more uncertainty and confusion to the elderly and the disabled than the assurance and peace of mind it was supposed to.

According to pharmacists and nursing home officials, with just about two weeks to go for the onset of the new benefit scheme, they were struggling to figure out who will bear the cost of medication given to thousands of residents of nursing homes. As per the new provisions private insurers will be the providers of drug benefits to senior citizens in the US. Of the 1.5 million elderly in nursing homes, about two-thirds are beneficiaries of both Medicare and Medicaid.

These "dual eligibles"- who add up to a whopping 6 million plus in all, belong to low-income groups in the main and will be switched over to coverage under one of the new Medicare plans, which many believe are flawed. These include politicians and lawyers of course but besides these professionals who should perhaps have their opinions heard, such as pharmacists who feel the plans are full of loopholes.

Amidst mounting concerns that some of the most destitute and ill among the elderly might end up in a plan that did not cover their medicines or even worse, omitted from any coverage whatsoever,
the government recently announced that two companies had been assigned the task of ensuring that all 'dual eligibles' get their proper medication from January 1, 2006 onwards.

However, many still feel that elderly invalids might have a arbitrary drug plan thrust upon them that takes away the benefits they currently enjoy through Medicaid. A never seen before co-payment for medication, might also be slapped on some.

Experts too find the plans in the new program complex and inadequate in their scope and have called for stopping nursing home residents being assigned to plans without taking note of their specific needs.

Meanwhile, there are reports of delays in handling of applications by insurers and timely issuance of cards to all those who signed up, remains dodgy.

The remaining 36 million Americans who too are on the old Medicare get the advantage of waiting till May 15 to decide which plan they wish to go for, by when the moment of truth of the new Medicare would have passed.