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More than 1 million low-income seniors and disabled Americans who are enrolled
in Medicare Part D drug plans face big problems at the pharmacy in January, warns
TREA Senior Citizens League, one of the nation's largest nonpartisan senior advocate
groups.
"Low-income beneficiaries face big and unexpected jumps
in their prescription drug costs as well as sudden changes in coverage,"
said Ralph McCutchen, chairman of TREA Senior Citizens League.
The group
is urging affected individuals to contact their local agencies on aging and request
one-on-one counseling at no charge. In Spokane, Aging and Long Term Care of Eastern
Washington can be reached by calling 458-2509. Elder Services can be contacted
at 458-7450.
The problem arises because some 630,000 low-income Medicare
beneficiaries who automatically received "Extra Help" (the federal assistance
that pays for most Part D drug plan expenses) will be dropped from the program
effective Jan. 1, 2007. Many of those seniors and the disabled will still qualify
for the assistance, but they will have to reapply for the "Extra Help"
because they no longer receive it automatically through state Medicaid programs.
"Most
beneficiaries and their caregivers may not even know they are no longer receiving
the Extra Help until they get to the pharmacy," McCutchen said. "These
people would have to pay the full cost of their prescriptions to meet their drug
plan deductible as well as higher co-insurance costs. In addition, these people
may be surprised by high bills for premiums and would have to pay full cost for
their prescriptions in the "doughnut hole" coverage gap.
Another
288,000 low-income Medicare beneficiaries will be reassigned to new Medicare drug
plans Jan. 1 because their current drug plan's premium is to high to qualify for
full Extra Help premium assistance. Beneficiaries will be reassigned to new plans
regardless of whether the plan covers all the medications they take or not.
"We
are concerned that some low-income seniors will fall through the cracks and some
could lose their coverage altogether," McCutchen said. "The Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently announced it would extend the Medicare
Part D Low-Income Subsidy Special Enrollment Period through 2007. This means low-income
beneficiaries who reapply and requalify for Extra Help can enroll in or switch
to a more appropriate drug plan in 2007 even though the general enrollment period
ends Dec. 31, 2006. However, they might have to pay a late enrollment penalty." Want
to find out more? To learn more about the TREA Senior Citizens League,
call, toll-free, 1-800-333-8725 or visit www.SeniorsLeague.org.
For your state insurance counseling program, call, toll-free, 1-800-677-1116 or
visit www.shiptalk.org. The
Loss and Healthcare Foundation offers free prescription medications to low-income
seniors. To learn more, call, toll-free, 1-800-380-6337 or visit www.a2zmedline.com.
Catholic Charities (358-4250) and other local agencies like Spokane Neighborhood
Action Programs (456-7111) are also available to help low-income seniors. Click
here to...
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