Editorial: Medicare drug plan snafu

Monday, May 8, 2006 | 7:24 a.m.

A new report says that operators regularly give seniors misinformation when they call a government help line for answers about Medicare's new drug benefit. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has not ensured that beneficiaries and the operators who advise them are given information that is "consistently clear, complete, accurate and usable," according to the report released last week by the Government Accountability Office.

The GAO investigation is timely because seniors have until just May 15 to enroll in the complex new program, which for months has baffled Medicare recipients with a dizzying array of drug plan choices.

In their probe, GAO investigators posing as seniors called the 800-MEDICARE help line 500 times, asking five questions 100 times each. A key question - Which drug plan costs the least based on my prescription needs? - yielded an accurate answer only 41 percent of the time, the investigation found. That's a grave indication that seniors may not get adequate coverage or may pay too much for their medicines.

The GAO calls were made from Jan. 17 through Feb. 7. This week Mark McClellan, a top Bush official on Medicare, told a congressional panel that the GAO report was itself inaccurate and out of date. He said improvements have been made. While we hope it's true, pardon us for being skeptical about such an amazing turnaround.

Two things should happen now. First, a follow-up GAO probe should be launched to investigate McClellan's claims that seniors finally are being given good information. No one should take the Bush administration at its word on this one - there is too much at stake. Second, the May 15 enrollment deadline should be delayed. Given this report, some seniors may want to reconsider their plans and seek additional advice.

As part of his response to the GAO report, McClellan noted that in 97 percent of calls, callers said the operators were courteous. That's great. But seniors aren't phoning in a catalogue order. They deserve a lot more than politeness - they deserve fully informed, accurate answers with every call.