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HHS says 21 million signed up for Part D

Physician Practice Advisor, December 28, 2005

More than 21 million senior citizens and people with disabilities are signed up so far for the Medicare Part D drug benefit taking effect January 1, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt announced at a December 22 press briefing.

However, the vast majority of beneficiaries counted by HHS as of December 13 already had drug coverage under a retiree plan, Medicaid, or a Medicare Advantage plan. Only about 1 million of 21 million enrollees signed up for the stand-alone coverage in the first 28 days it was offered. CMS expects another 500,000 enrollments by the end of January, Leavitt said. Open enrollment continues until May 15, after which late enrollees face a penalty.

"The new prescription drug benefit is off to a strong start," Leavitt said. "We are well on the way of meeting our goal of 28-30 million enrolled in the first year of the program. While there is still much work to do, we are encouraged by the early results"

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