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Advocacy group sues to ensure Part D enrollment safeguards

LTC Liability Monitor, November 17, 2005

The New York-based consumer advocacy group Medicare Rights Center (MRC) filed suit Monday, demanding the U.S. government continue drug coverage for Medicaid-dependent seniors in the event of any glitches in the Medicare Part D changeover process, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. The MRC was joined in suit by seven other organizations from six states around the country, representing more than a million seniors. The organization said it fears the country's most financially strapped beneficiaries could face a life-threatening crisis if their transfers to Part D are incomplete by the new drug program's January 1 rollout date.

Federal law mandates that the so-called 6.4 million dual eligibles-those who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid-be automatically enrolled in a new drug plan. But the suit suggests that the changeover system fails to guard against computer and human errors-and that some seniors could be left empty-handed and in need of medication while it's all sorted out.

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