Jewish World Review July 30, 2003 / 1 Menachem-Av, 5763

James P. Firman

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Consumer Reports


Seniors can save while they wait for Congress to legislate


http://www.jewishworldreview.com | WASHINGTON Congress may be poised to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, but there are 16 million senior and disabled citizens who need quick help with the cost of their medications and can't wait until 2006 to find relief.

Millions of seniors are missing out on a wide variety of patient assistance programs while they wait for the more permanent solution of a federal prescription benefit. Many pharmaceutical companies, for instance, offer assistance programs that provide limited supplies of free or low-cost medications to needy Americans.

Some pharmaceutical companies have gone a step further and also offer discount cards and prescription drug benefit programs that provide substantial savings on medications commonly used by seniors.

All told, there are more than 80 government programs that provide prescription assistance including federal programs for military personnel and veterans, Medicaid and other state prescription assistance programs for seniors. Even some local communities have their own programs.

Until now, the biggest problem for seniors has been "navigating the maze" to find out whether they're eligible for a specific program and where to apply for it.

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That's why that The National Council on the Aging has developed a BenefitsCheckUpRx program on our popular online service www.benefitscheckup.org for seniors and caregivers.

With BenefitsCheckUpRx, seniors can find out in a few minutes about all of the benefits available to them in federal, state or private sector programs. More than 1 million seniors and their caregivers have used the service so far and received significant price reductions on their medications.

The experiences of NCOA and the companies involved in reaching out to seniors have important implications for the new Medicare drug program.

The Pfizer for Living Share Card program, which has enrolled 375,000 Medicare beneficiaries and filled 2.2 million of their prescriptions, recently released a "Report to America" based on its experiences with enrollment and administration.

According to seniors surveyed in the report and Pfizer's own experience with its Share Card, any program from application to renewal should be simple and consumer-friendly. Seniors want information that is clear and concise and they want a program that is easy to use.

Another key lesson is that a successful program must rely on networking and outreach using intermediary organizations such as senior organizations and churches, and trusted individuals to help raise awareness and facilitate enrollment. In addition to the lessons outlined in Pfizer's report, we also believe that basing a person's eligibility on their income, but not their assets, greatly increases the ease of enrollment.

An ounce of initiative now can save seniors pounds of money before a federal prescription drug benefit is signed into law and actually takes effect.



James P. Firman is president and CEO of The National Council on Aging, www.ncoa.org. Comment by clicking here.

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© 2003, The National Council on Aging Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services