Drug-card enrollment is low, sponsors say

The secretary of health and human services had advised seniors to shop around.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- As Tuesday's starting date approaches for the Medicare drug-discount program, the number of older Americans enrolling for the new benefit has been disappointing, according to some card sponsors.
Although most of the more than 70 sponsors are silent about how many people they've signed up, AARP acknowledges its number is minuscule. The group, which has 35 million 50-and-older members, mailed out 26,000 enrollment kits and has signed up only 400 people, spokeswoman Carol Shirley said.
At Walgreens Co., spokesman Michael Polzin said, "We prepared for a crush of seniors to come in beginning in May. That hasn't happened."
The Bush administration projected that 7.3 million Medicare recipients would sign up for the cards, which can be used beginning June 1. That number includes 4.7 million with incomes low enough to receive $600 from the federal government this year and again in 2005 to pay pharmacy bills.
If enrollment to date is lower than expected, it can be attributed partly to advice from Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and others to window-shop before choosing a card. On Thursday, Thompson said: "Now is the time to sign up."
Information systems
AARP's Shirley said the rollout of the drug-card program also "has been a bit rocky." Problems have included swamped phone lines at the Medicare hot line, which Thompson and others consider evidence of high interest in the program, and discrepancies between prices posted on the Medicare Web site and what the card sponsors say they are charging for some medicines.
Ruth Nadel, a member of the advisory Commission on Aging in Washington, stood up at Thompson's news conference to complain that the Web site is difficult to use, a point reinforced by analysts at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass.
"The site's flaws make picking the right card a cumbersome task," Forrester's Elizabeth Boehm said.
In addition, some advocacy groups and Democratic critics of the new Medicare prescription-drug law have challenged the discounts available with the cards. Bush administration officials say brand-name drugs can be had for up to 18 percent less than the retail price, on average. Two reports this week said drug-price inflation in recent years exceeds the discounts.
Nevertheless, Thompson and Mark McClellan, the top Medicare official, said glitches have largely been eliminated, and they remain on track to reach their enrollment projections.
This week, they announced that the administration is making available $4.6 million to help sign up low-income Medicare beneficiaries who qualify for the annual $600 in government aid.
"Low-income seniors cannot afford to pass those savings up," Thompson said.
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