Prescription cards raise many questions for seniors

Molly Ball

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 | 10:01 a.m.

The Medicare prescription drug discount cards took effect June 1. Anyone who is eligible for Medicare qualifies. Additional information:

VARIETY

There are 38 different cards being promoted by companies offering discounts on prescription drugs. Each card offers different prices and a different selection of medicines. Some cards charge an annual fee of as much as $30.

NO SWITCHING

Once you have signed up for a card, you may not switch to a different card for a year.

EXTRA CREDIT

Individuals whose income is $12,569 or less and couples whose income is $16,862 or less qualify for an extra $600 credit. An estimated 4.7 million people meet these criteria.

OTHER INSURANCE

Those who are covered by Medicaid, other state assistance or employer- provided insurance may not use the new cards.

INFORMATION

Information about the cards, including comparative drug prices, is online at www.medicare.gov or by phone at (800) MEDICARE.

EXPIRATION

The cards will expire Jan. 1, 2006, when a prescription drug benefit will be available as part of Medicare.

The federal government's new Medicare prescription drug discount cards are confusing and don't benefit most seniors at all, members of a state seniors group said on Tuesday.

The Nevada Alliance for Retired Americans held a town hall meeting with Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, to discuss the new cards, which went into effect June 1.

Those older than 65 who qualify for Medicare but are not on Medicaid can choose from 38 Medicare-approved cards, all of which offer different rates and different selections of drugs.

"There is mass confusion out there," said Len Vizzaccero, a vice president of the retirees group. "Even those who work with (Medicare) are confused by this program."

About 45 people attended Tuesday's meeting, most of them members of the Nevada group, which claims to have 11,000 members. It is a chapter of a national organization that counts 3 million members. Vizzaccero said Tuesday's attendance was disappointing.

Most of the questions at the meeting related to a handout purporting to show that many of the drugs most commonly used by seniors can be bought for less money through the Department of Veterans Affairs, in Canada or from an online pharmacy than with the Medicare Discount Card. The handout was prepared by Washington-based Families USA.

An Internet search by the Sun found that to be accurate. As of Tuesday, 30 10-milligram tablets of the cholesterol drug Lipitor, the single most frequently prescribed drug for seniors, would cost $64.74 to $71.94 at Las Vegas pharmacies using any of 32 different Medicare cards.

The same order would cost $62.99 from the online store Drugstore.com. The Drugstore.com price does not include shipping costs, and the Medicare price range does not include the cards' annual enrollment fees. Some cards don't charge enrollment fees, while others charge as much as $30.

According to Families USA, the same package of pills in April would have cost $40.55 from the VA and $35.42 in Canada.

That means the cards are not a discount at all, Vizzaccero said.

"Seniors are trying to understand how this affects them personally," he said. "It's new, and they're confused about what they should do."

Since the cards took effect, pharmacies around the country have reported lower than expected enrollment and problems with the Medicare Web site that is consumers' main source of information about the cards.

"It's bewildering how many discount cards there are," Buckley said. "It's impossible for anyone to figure out which one's best for them."

She told the seniors' group that she plans to introduce a resolution in the Legislature next year that would call on Congress to repeal the prescription drug plan it passed last year and enact a better one -- "an affordable one that's easy to use and easy to understand."

Vizzaccero said the cards also hurt seniors by locking them into the card they choose for a year -- a year in which the card provider is free to change its prices and selection. And since no one card covers every drug, consumers might get a discount on some medicines but have to pay for others out of pocket.

Vizzaccero said political change was the alliance's goal. The group opposes the Medicare prescription drug plan that Congress passed last year. The cards are an interim measure until the full plan takes effect in 2006.

Vizzaccero and other opponents of the plan allege it will bankrupt low-income seniors while enriching the pharmaceutical industry. They note that the plan prohibits the federal government from negotiating lower drug prices and makes it illegal to import medicines from Canada.

Defenders of the plan do not claim it is a panacea, but they say it is a move in the right direction. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who voted for the measure, "has always said, 'Is this bill perfect? No. But it's an important first step,' " Gibbons' spokeswoman Amy Spanbauer said on Tuesday.

"Approximately 10 million seniors had no prescription drug benefit prior to this. They're going to save, and those most in need are going to save even more" once the full provisions of the bill come into effect, she said.

"This is the first time prescription drugs have ever been covered under Medicare," said Adam Mayberry, spokesman for Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev. "The Democrats had 40 years to reform Medicare, and they didn't do it."

But Vizzaccero said these arguments sound to him like "half a loaf is better than none" -- and "this is not even half a slice."