September 5, 2008, 8:50 am
Marketing of Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Is a Mess
Posted by Jacob Goldstein
Seniors who’ve tried to wade through all the marketing brochures for Medicare prescription drug plans know how confusing they can be. As it turns out, those brochures do a pretty poor job of meeting the guidelines laid out by the feds.
A report out yesterday from the inspector general’s office in the Department of Health and Human Services found that 85% of marketing materials didn’t meet guidelines set out by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Whoops.
The report puts part of the blame on CMS; the model marketing documents CMS gave to insurers isn’t consistent with the agency’s own guidelines, the report says. The template doesn’t include required information on the subsidy available to beneficiaries with low incomes, for example. CMS says it has made corrections to its model documents.
Another problem is that most marketing documents that are produced by an insurer in conjunction with a pharmacy fail to mention — as required — that other pharmacies are also available.
The problems have some folks in Congress pretty peeved. “This report reveals a near-total failure by CMS, where officials have insisted that they can regulate the marketing of plans to seniors as well as or better than experienced state insurance agencies,” Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Dem who has been active in policing Medicare marketing, said in a statement yesterday. “The evidence now shows that’s not the case.”
Photo by Aaron Fulkerson via Flickr
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bush and mcsame should be proud of this horlick
Comment by SICKETTE - September 5, 2008 at 9:57 am
It is sad that a program so many people need is being abused by those only looking for a quick buck.I could have made more money selling these plans than filling prescriptions and providing patinet care. CVS knew what they were doing when they purchased Caremark. Now many people think they have to go to CVS if they have a CVS Caremark plan. Maybe one day people will learn how to think and not allow all of these abuses to continue under the guise of free enterprise.
Comment by COMMUNITY PHARMACIST - September 5, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Interesting that this article points out the lack of meeting guidelines AND the WSJ article that mentioned marketing materials that failed to meet the guidelines completely GLOSSED OVER the fact that not only does CMS provide the templates for said marketing materials but they must also approve any and all marketing materials sent out by healthplans. Hmmm……..
Comment by healthplan employee - September 5, 2008 at 6:12 pm
There are too many plans to choose from. It’s confusing to just about anybody. There should be 3 plans - basic, medium, high. Also, the aggressive marketing makes it even more confusing. Also, formularies are not readily available to the patient, the doctor and the pharmacist to review. The way it is now, the Medicare prescription drug benefit is free enterprise out of control. It needs to be controlled, at least a little bit.
Comment by Primary Care Physician - September 5, 2008 at 8:04 pm
I agree that figuring out Medicare Part D is too confusing for the average senior but:
1) Before Medicare Part D most seniors had no access to coverage for prescription drugs whatsoever
2) anyone with access to Medicare.gov can figure out within a few minutes which plan will equate to the lowest out-of-pocket expenses, assuming the person’s prescriptions don’t change.
A decent insurance agent or non-profit organization can help seniors determine which plan makes the most sense every year, since they can change dramatically
Comment by orcamansam - September 6, 2008 at 1:24 am
hey primary care physician above,
are you voting for bush-mcsame?
Comment by donut hole - September 6, 2008 at 7:56 am
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