Well, Medicare Part D has only been in effect for a little over a month, and it’s already (still?) a pain in the rear end. However, there are several plans in the works, by both CMS and Congress.
The biggest problem has been those seniors considered to have ‘dual eligibility’, i.e., those that qualify under both Medicare Part D and Medicaid. You know, the patients that were supposed to be automatically signed up with Part D? The ones that were never informed about which plan they were signed up for? Yeah, those…
Well, there is good news… (no, I didn’t save money on car insurance). CMS is going to allow pharmacies to bill Medicare directly during a ‘transition’ period, so patients without their enrollment information can still get their life-saving medications. Not necessarily a fix, but it’s at least a start.
