Historical Support for A Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
Historically, Medicare has not provided coverage for outpatient prescription drugs. Given the important role prescription drugs play in health care, and the rising costs associated with them, different proposals to add a drug benefit to Medicare have been proposed in the past. The most recent - the Medicare Modernization Act – passed in 2003 and created Medicare Part D, an outpatient prescription drug benefit set to go into effect in January 2006.
In the period leading up to passage of this law, there was overwhelming support for the addition of a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, and this support was consistent even when the cost of adding such coverage was discussed.
Seniors’ Views on the New Prescription Drug Benefit
Since we began tracking seniors’ views of the Medicare prescription drug benefit in February 2004, more seniors have had an unfavorable than a favorable impression of the benefit (with the exception of August 2005, when the shares with favorable and unfavorable impressions were equal at 32%). Most recently, in April 2006, 46% of seniors have an unfavorable impression, and 30% have a favorable impression.
Seniors’ Understanding of Benefit
Seniors’ reported understanding of the benefit has gradually increased over the past year, though there are still gaps in seniors’ knowledge. In April 2006, over half of seniors say they do not have a good understanding of the benefit (53%) and nearly half (46%) said they do not have enough information to understand how the new benefit will impact them personally.
Seniors’ Plans for Enrollment
In April 2006, about three in ten (31%) of seniors say they have already enrolled in a Medicare drug plan, and another 13% say they plan to enroll. With just over 1 month to go until the end of the enrollment period (before penalties for late enrollment kick in), nearly four in ten (38%) say they do not plan to enroll, and 16% say they don’t know yet whether they will enroll.
There are important gaps in seniors’ knowledge of enrollment deadlines. Medicare beneficiaries have to sign up for the drug benefit by May 15 or pay higher premiums if they enroll in the future, unless they previously had what the government calls “creditable” coverage. Among seniors who may still enroll – those still deciding or say they plan to enroll but haven’t yet - nearly half don’t know about the deadline or the penalty for late enrollment.
Among the 54% of seniors who say they will NOT enroll, or don’t yet know whether they will enroll in a Medicare prescription drug plan, the most commonly cited reason is that they already have help paying for prescription drugs from an insurance plan or program (65%).
Early Experiences of Enrollees
Most enrolled seniors are satisfied with their drug plans and are not having problems filling prescriptions under their new plans. However, it’s important to note that nearly two in ten enrolled seniors who have tried to fill prescriptions did report having a problem getting their drugs. We will probe the nature of the problems seniors are having getting their prescriptions filled in greater depth in future surveys.
Awareness and Use of Medicare Information Resources
While many seniors know about Medicare’s hotline and website, few report using them. About six in ten seniors say they have heard of Medicare’s toll-free phone number, 1-800-MEDICARE (61%) and the website Medicare.gov (62%). However, just 12% say they’ve called the hotline and just 9% have looked for information on Medicare.gov.
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