St. Petersburg Times Series Examines Medicare

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 02 Nov 2007 - 11:00 PDT

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The St. Petersburg Times on Tuesday published a series on Medicare and the prescription drug benefit. Headlines and summaries appear below.

• "The A, B, Ds of Medicare ... and HMOs and PPOs. The Good News: Most of You Have Until Dec. 31 To Pick a Plan. The Bad News: There's a Lot of Homework To Be Done": The article explains how to "sort through Medicare's dizzying array of options." The article includes detailed information on the different parts of Medicare and the plans available under the prescription drug benefit (Nohlgren [1], St. Petersburg Times, 10/30).
  
  
• "A Mixed Bag for Those With Lower Incomes: Medicare Has Special Rules for People on Medicaid and Other People With Low Income. Pay Attention": The article explains how dual-eligibles -- beneficiaries eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid -- must "aggressively work the system" to enroll in appropriate prescription drug plans. According to the Times, Medicare automatically enrolls duel-eligibles who do not enroll in prescription drug plans by Dec. 31 in plans with the lowest monthly premiums, and those plans "cost you hundreds of dollars if they don't cover your prescriptions." In addition, lower-income Medicare beneficiaries should determine whether they qualify for subsidies under the prescription drug benefit (Nohlgren [2], St. Petersburg Times, 10/30).
  
  
• "Find a Wealth of Information on Medicare's Web Site: The Much-Improved Site Shows You the Ins and Outs of the Plans. Just Pick and Click": The article includes a detailed guide on navigation of the Medicare Web site. According to the Times, in the past years, "Medicare's Web site was difficult to navigate. But this year, the site is much improved. It still requires effort, but it delivers more useful information in a better package" (Nohlgren [3], St. Petersburg Times, 10/30).
  
  
• "Private Medicare Plans Cost Us $15B More, Study Shows": The article examines a recent Congressional Budget Office report that found higher reimbursements for Medicare Advantage plans compared with the fee-for service program will cost the federal government $15 billion over five years (Hundley, St. Petersburg Times, 10/30).

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