Administration's Report about Medicare Drug Enrollment

Report Tries to Mask that Only 1 Million Seniors Have Actually Enrolled in New Medicare Drug

Washington, D.C. – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today released its most up-to-date report on seniors enrolled in Medicare’s new Part D prescription drug benefit. The report states that over 21 million Medicare beneficiaries will have coverage on January 1, 2006. The following is the statement of Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, about that report:

     “The Administration’s report about the number of seniors enrolled in prescription drug coverage is extraordinarily misleading. It is designed to mask the fact that only 1 million seniors have actually enrolled so far in the new Medicare prescription drug program.

     “Of the approximate 21 million beneficiaries that the Administration states will have drug coverage as of January 1, 2006, the overwhelming majority already had drug coverage prior to the implementation of the new program. Those 21 million break down as follows:

• Dual eligibles: 6.2 million Medicaid and Medicare dual eligibles who currently have prescription drug coverage under Medicaid and who will be automatically enrolled in Medicare Part D on January 1. This will not result in any new drug coverage.
• Medicare Advantage beneficiaries: 4.4 million Medicare Advantage enrollees whose Medicare managed care plan offers prescription drug coverage starting January 1. These plans already provided prescription drug coverage prior to the new program.
• Retirees: 7.4 million retirees already receive coverage from their previous employers.
• Federal retirees, veterans, and their families: 3.1 million retired federal employees and military families will also continue to receive existing drug coverage.
• New beneficiaries: Only about 1 million new enrollees have signed up for the new benefit. CMS’s own projections from January 2005 show that they expected about 16 million new beneficiaries in this category. Two weeks before the benefit starts, they are barely 6 percent of the way there.

     “The real progress toward expanding drug coverage, as opposed to the Administration’s misleading hype, is very disappointing. We hope program enrollment improves significantly, but it seems likely that the confusing and bewildering structure of the new Medicare drug program will continue to hinder that progress.”

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Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan and advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

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