HEALTH CARE Medicare drug plan too hard, poll finds

Pharmacists have been devoting a lot of time to helping customers.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Most people, particularly senior citizens, say they are having a hard time understanding the new Medicare prescription drug program, an AP-Ipsos poll found.
The drug benefit requires people to choose from among dozens of competing private insurance plans. Along with senior citizens, those most likely to acknowledge difficulties live in rural areas or are college graduates.
"I pretty much completed a master's degree in psychology and I can't understand it," said Raymond Lloyd, a Republican-leaning retiree from Silt, Colo. "For the elderly who don't have their full faculties and the poor people who are not well-educated, God help 'em."
More than half, 52 percent, of respondents say they think the program that began enrolling people Jan. 1 is tough to understand.
Many confused
Two-thirds of older people surveyed and two-thirds of those who have signed up say they are confused by the program, which is intended to help many save more on their prescription drugs.
A third said they had not decided what they think of the new program, and 16 percent said they have little trouble figuring out the program.
One who finds it easy to understand is Kathy Herndon of Savannah, Ga., who has worked for three decades in a dentist's office.
"I'm sure it would be confusing unless you're used to dealing with it," she said.
The poorest people in the program have a specific plan chosen at first for them; those with higher incomes have to pick one. People who struggle with a selection often turn to their pharmacists.
Marlene Brantley, a pharmacist from Arnaudville, La., said that serving Hurricane Katrina evacuees seemed like "a walk in the park" when compared with helping Medicare beneficiaries in recent weeks.
She said there are too many plans and too many lists of available drugs, forcing pharmacists to spend a lot of time trying to determine if people are eligible for a particular plan.
"If we don't get help, I see us all throwing up our hands and quitting," Brantley said at a Capitol Hill hearing last week sponsored by Democrats.
What's been done
Soon after enrollment opened, it became apparent there was widespread confusion, so the government increased from 150 to 4,000 the number of workers at a pharmacy help line. Questions also can go through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services -- (800) Medicare or www.cms.hhs.gov -- or local aging agencies.
The public's understanding of the program is one of several problems that have plagued the Bush administration's initiative.