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Medicare proposed rule draws criticism

Case Management Weekly, March 11, 2008

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CMS' approach to prevent certain Medicare beneficiaries from having to change their Medicare drug plans will not work, according to the Center for Medicare Advocacy, a non-partisan consumer group. CMS' proposed rule is intended to maintain at least five prescription drug plans in each state as zero premium plans for low income beneficiaries. Many zero premium plans that qualified in 2007 have seen cost increases this year that raise them over the level that qualifies as a zero premium.

Of the 2.5 million low-income beneficiaries who are in plans that have risen above the zero premium benchmark, about 2 million have been automatically reassigned to new plans by CMS. But that still leaves 500,000 who will have to seek new plans for themselves.

"CMS' intentions are good, but their approach will not prevent or even limit reassignment," says Vicki Gottlich, Senior Policy Attorney for the Center for Medicare Advocacy. "The proposed regulation, while ensuring that beneficiaries will always have a minimum number of benchmark plans to chose from, does nothing to guarantee that those plans will be the same from one year to the next."

To read the full story in Medical News Today, click here.

Source: Medical News Today

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