Medicare prescription discount cards are a flop, say most seniors in the USA

Main Category: Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 11 Jul 2004 - 12:00 PDT

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Medicare prescription discount cards are confusing and overwhelming for even the most meticulous administrator, for seniors they are a maze of comparisons, alternatives, risks, contradictions and disappointments. Most people do not qualify for the big discounts - if you are virtually living on the bread line or in dire straits you get $600 towards your prescription charges for one year - otherwise most people only get paltry discounts on drugs that had gone up in price wildly before the whole scheme started.

A senior, in order to have a look-in at the tiny discounts has to first decide what medications he/she is on, then make a price comparison to a list of drugs covered by each of the 60+ cards around. When a card is selected the senior has to pay $30.

If you have the mental stamina of a marathon runner you may get through the maze. However, how many seniors have that kind of stamina?

According to many people who work at organizations that help the elderly, those taking advantage of the discount cards are nowhere near as high in numbers as official figures would have us believe. Official figures in Michigan suggest that 25% of those eligible are taking advantage of the scheme. However, agencies that help the elderly in the area say that the numbers are far, far lower.

Others say it is impossible to know how many people are on the scheme because there are so many suppliers - how can you keep track?

The most common complaints among the elderly are: 1. There are too many cards and not enough information. 2. The discounts are paltry.

Many are opting out of the scheme because they said there are no advantages. It would not be cost-effective - the discounts are not worth the time and effort and money you have to pay up front.

Many other organizations say that they can get better discounts for their elderly than the scheme can. In some cases, just by switching to a generic saves hundreds of dollars a year. It seems that what the elderly in America need more than anything else is good advice and information - and perhaps a bit more financial help.

Some voluntary advisers say that it is a nightmare even for them. They see seniors coming to them with a pile of prescriptions in one box and another pile of card pamphlets in another. Matching them up requires enormous patience and a great deal of knowledge.

If you are not happy with the choice of card you made - tough. There is nothing you can do about it for a whole year. The moment you buy that card you are stuck with it for 12 months. On many occasions you do not know what savings you will get until after you have bought the card. There is now way you can, as a customer, express your disapproval of the service by switching suppliers. This 'free market' system works only one way. The supplier can change his prices, but you cannot change supplier (for a year).

The USA is one of the very few 'developed' countries whose seniors have to scramble for prescription money, discounts and hand outs. In the UK, for example, if you are over 60, pregnant, unemployed, on income support (low pay) or under 18, all your prescription drugs are provided free by the state. Those who have to pay, pay a maximum of $10 per prescription (the state pays the difference). There are over 40 million people in the USA who have absolutely no medical insurance. This is over 12% of the population. Amazingly, the USA spends a much higher proportion of its national wealth on medicine (drugs and medical treatment) than the UK does.