The Greatest Generation can't navigate new Medicare Drug Plan enrollment
Scott Bannon
November 14, 2005
Too bad! Secretary Of Health And Human Services Says: "Lots Of Things In Life Are Complicated"
By the thousands seniors are having trouble understanding the enrollment process for the new Medicare Drug Plans, and they say little help is being provided from the providers.
"I have a Ph.D., and it's too complicated to suit me," said William Q. Beard, 73, a retired chemist in Wichita, Kan., "I wonder how the vast majority of beneficiaries will handle this."
A few more complaints:
"I'm trying to figure out Plan D for my mom who has Alzheimers and is a cancer survivor. As it turns out there's no plan that covers all her meds."
"I went to the Library, I don't have a computer, to try and get help from the Medicare website, it was offline."
"I have so many options available, but can't find a full listing of which medications each one will cover for me. What if I pick the wrong one - it could cost me more than I receive each month just for medicine?"
"I'm 83, living on a fixed income and tight budget. What if I pick a plan today that doesn't cover a life-saving drug I may need in a few months? I have to add this plan's costs into my budget and it may not even help with some expensive prescription I need down the road but won't be able to afford. Gee, thanks."
It seems that opting to delegate prescription coverages for seniors and the disabled to Insurance carriers may not have been the brightest of ideas. I'm not sure why anyone ever would have thought it could be though.
A simple glance at the bottom line, where everything really begins and ends in America, shows why this was a dumb idea from the start.
Senior citizens as a whole require more benefits than any other group. It's just a fact of life that with time our health deteriorates. Insurance companies are not in business to provide help, they are in business to earn profits. That's not a condemnation, it's another fact that businesses exist to profit.
There's no financial profit involved in providing comprehensive prescription coverage to a group of people who will use large amounts of the benefits at low rates. Again, a simple fact of economics math.
So, how will the providers ensure that they turn this opportunity from Medicare into a profitable venture for themselves? Well, turn the enrollment process into a maze that even Doctors can't clearly navigate and then hope enough policy members choose plans which won't actually provide them with full coverage so that premiums from this group can cover the losses for policy members who do receive full or more coverage over time.
Again, I'm not condemning insurance companies for their tactics, seedy as they may appear. No business can be expected to operate while taking huge losses, which is what would happen if all eligible citizens were to actually receive their full coverage of benefits.
The bottom line (again) on this issue is, like with people's money (Social Security), health care isn't something to politicize or privatize. It's something which must be consumed and managed by the government as a national necessity in the interest of government serving "we the people".
By the thousands seniors are having trouble understanding the enrollment process for the new Medicare Drug Plans, and they say little help is being provided from the providers.
"I have a Ph.D., and it's too complicated to suit me," said William Q. Beard, 73, a retired chemist in Wichita, Kan., "I wonder how the vast majority of beneficiaries will handle this."
A few more complaints:
"I'm trying to figure out Plan D for my mom who has Alzheimers and is a cancer survivor. As it turns out there's no plan that covers all her meds."
"I went to the Library, I don't have a computer, to try and get help from the Medicare website, it was offline."
"I have so many options available, but can't find a full listing of which medications each one will cover for me. What if I pick the wrong one - it could cost me more than I receive each month just for medicine?"
"I'm 83, living on a fixed income and tight budget. What if I pick a plan today that doesn't cover a life-saving drug I may need in a few months? I have to add this plan's costs into my budget and it may not even help with some expensive prescription I need down the road but won't be able to afford. Gee, thanks."
It seems that opting to delegate prescription coverages for seniors and the disabled to Insurance carriers may not have been the brightest of ideas. I'm not sure why anyone ever would have thought it could be though.
A simple glance at the bottom line, where everything really begins and ends in America, shows why this was a dumb idea from the start.
Senior citizens as a whole require more benefits than any other group. It's just a fact of life that with time our health deteriorates. Insurance companies are not in business to provide help, they are in business to earn profits. That's not a condemnation, it's another fact that businesses exist to profit.
There's no financial profit involved in providing comprehensive prescription coverage to a group of people who will use large amounts of the benefits at low rates. Again, a simple fact of economics math.
So, how will the providers ensure that they turn this opportunity from Medicare into a profitable venture for themselves? Well, turn the enrollment process into a maze that even Doctors can't clearly navigate and then hope enough policy members choose plans which won't actually provide them with full coverage so that premiums from this group can cover the losses for policy members who do receive full or more coverage over time.
Again, I'm not condemning insurance companies for their tactics, seedy as they may appear. No business can be expected to operate while taking huge losses, which is what would happen if all eligible citizens were to actually receive their full coverage of benefits.
The bottom line (again) on this issue is, like with people's money (Social Security), health care isn't something to politicize or privatize. It's something which must be consumed and managed by the government as a national necessity in the interest of government serving "we the people".