showing Medicare prescription drug discount cards producing
larger-than-expected savings, but the federal study failed to satisfy critics
who questioned the findings and insisted that the program would disappoint
seniors.
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ analysis shows discount
cards yielding savings of 10 percent to 17 percent off retail prices for
name-brand drugs and 30 percent to 60 percent off generic medications. The
savings are as good or better than those in private health plans, the agency
said.
“There is now clear and convincing evidence … of significant savings
possible through the Medicare-endorsed discount program,” Dr. Mark B.
McClellan, the centers’ administrator, told a gathering here of pharmacy
benefit managers whose companies are sponsoring cards and administering the
discount program.
“The facts are on our side on this one,” he said. “Even though there’s a
lot of misinformation out there.”
Because of the Medicare discounts, McClellan vowed, American seniors “are
never again going to pay the highest prices in the world” for prescription
medications.
He said “tens of thousands” of Medicare recipients signed up Monday for the
optional discount cards, which are intended to help more than 10 million
seniors who now pay full retail prices for their medications. The agency does
not have an accurate count of seniors who have already enrolled and probably
will not be able to report accurate enrollment figures until after the program
takes effect June 1.
Medicare’s toll-free telephone number (1-800-MEDICARE) received 408,000
calls Monday, almost 8 percent of the total calls the agency received at that
number all of last year, and more than 300,000 calls Tuesday, McClellan said.
The heavy call volume overwhelmed the agency’s telephone lines and left many
callers with busy signals.
“There’s tons, tons of interest in the program,” McClellan said.
All Medicare-eligible seniors can apply for a discount card. While the
value of the card for people who already have prescription benefits through
employers or other health plans is debatable, the program’s assistance for
low-income beneficiaries is clear.
Single people with incomes less than $12,569 a year and couples with
incomes less than $16,862 get the card free and a total subsidy of $1,200 for
medicine this year and next.
Consumer advocates and administration officials alike are urging seniors
who want to participate in the program to take their time choosing a card.
Seniors can choose just one card, which costs $30 a year, and will be able to
switch cards just once – late this year – while card sponsors can change drug
prices and even drop medications every week. There is no deadline for
enrollment.
There are 73 different discount cards. All are administered by private
companies. So far, 56 card sponsors have posted discounts on the Medicare Web
site (www.medicare.gov). The site received more than 1.7 million page hits
Monday.
Two leading nonpartisan consumer groups that have prepared their own price
analyses of the discount card program expressed skepticism about the
administration’s price comparisons.
Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center in New York, said
his organization compared prices offered by three Medicare discount-cards with
deals advertised on two Canadian and U.S. Internet sites and the New York
state prescription drug assistance program. The group found the Medicare
cards’ discounts fell short.
“Some people, especially some very low-income people, can benefit from the
Medicare cards, but it’s absolutely true that most consumers will find far
deeper discounts from U.S. Internet pharmacies,” Hayes said. “And virtually
everyone can secure the best savings from Canadian Internet pharmacies.”
And Ronald F. Pollack, executive director of Families USA in Washington,
said the discounts offered by the cards mean little because his organization’s
survey found that drug companies began raising the price of medicine before
the prices were advertised.
“It’s the equivalent of a used car salesman saying that he will give you a
$3,000 discount, but shortly before you walked into the showroom, he added
$4,000 over the sticker price,” Pollack said.
“Are seniors suppose to derive satisfaction from knowing that they got a
discount even though they’re paying more out of pocket than before?”
Hayes further criticized the Bush administration for what he called
“huckstering” instead of trying to help seniors make better choices in their
drug purchases.
“It should not be about image and politics,” Hayes said. “There’s a dire
need for people to get intelligent, nonpartisan information about drug
discounts.”
But McClellan maintained in his address to the Pharmaceutical Care
Management Association that information about drug prices available in the
discount card program would help seniors make better consumer decisions and
serve as a model for the Medicare drug program that begins in 2006.
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“If we really want choice and competition to work in Medicare,” he said.
“We need to get seniors the information they need to make informed choices.”