Washington, D.C. – An estimated 1.6 million Americans who are low-income beneficiaries of Medicare Part D will be forced to join—or will be assigned—new drug plans by January 1, or they face the option of paying more out of pocket for their prescription drug coverage. These reassignments will occur because of premium increases and technical adjustments buried in the Medicare prescription drug bill, which the Bush administration has fought to preserve unchanged.
The scheduled reassignment of low-income beneficiaries to new drug plans was included in a recent news release from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which also announced the 2008 Part D premiums.
Low-income beneficiaries have been receiving subsidies—as much as $33 per month, depending on the region where they live—to help cover the cost of their Part D premiums. However, because of a combination of subsidy decreases and premium increases, 1.6 million low-income individuals will no longer have a sufficient subsidy to cover the premiums of their existing plans. The choice? Pay more or change plans.
“While the administration is touting the fact that premiums have gone up less than they feared, the fact remains that our most vulnerable citizens continue to be the victimized by fundamental flaws in the Part D plan,” Kathleen Stoll, Director of Health Policy at Families USA, said today.
“One of the most challenging aspects of Part D has been the effort required to choose a plan that best matches an individual’s health needs,” Stoll said. “Now, hundreds of thousands of those who in many cases are the least prepared or least able to conduct this kind of research are going to be forced to wade into this mess again.”
Stoll noted that these low-income beneficiaries also have the unacceptable third choice of staying in their existing plan and paying more out of pocket for their prescription drug coverage.
“Sadly, the flaws in Part D continue to disproportionately affect the people who most desperately need this program, and we urge Congress to fix this discrepancy as soon as possible.”
