Medicare Part D enrollment deadline passes, political jostling continues

The deadline for penalty-free Medicare prescription drug benefit enrollments passed on May 15, with both political parties in the USA making partisan claims about the success or failure of the program. The Republican administration claimed that, before the last minute dash to register, its target of 90% coverage for prescription drug relief for seniors had been met. On the Democrat side, there was skepticism about some of the numbers claimed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), as well as claims that the choice of drug plans was confusing, that the late-enrollment penalty was unfair and allegations by one Representative that some insurers had engaged in illegal marketing practices.

Meanwhile, drug companies were deciding whether to continue or cease their patient assistance programs, especially as it was unclear whether low-income beneficiaries would be penalized for receiving PAP benefits from drug firms, when they enter the coverage gap in their plan, the so-called "Donut Hole" (Marketletters passim).

In the run up to the deadline the CMS added 6,000 telephone operators, quadrupled the enrollment web site's capacity and participated in over 1,000 events across the USA to promote last-minute signing up to the Medicare prescription benefit. When asked why about five million people had not yet enrolled, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt identified four types of people who were resistant: "those who have no drug expenses and 'don't think they need a plan;' those who think the drug benefit is only available to low-income beneficiaries; people who have procrastinated; and those who do not wish to sign up for a government program."