Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

U.S. Medicare says 21 mln to receive drug coverage

[Here are the unimpressive (IMHO) numbers: of the 43M Medicare beneficiaries, just under half are signed up for the new drug benefit, but only 1M of the 22M beneficiaries (less than 5%) who were not enrolled in a plan automatically have taken the steps to sign themselves up. As has been discussed here ad nauseam, the plan is too damn complicated!]

http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh50209_2005-12-22_23-33-04_n22...

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Thu Dec 22, 2005 06:33 PM ET
By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - U.S. health officials on Thursday said more than 21 million seniors and disabled people will receive Medicare's new prescription drug benefit starting Jan. 1, but millions more have yet to sign up.

Most of those were enrolled automatically through various programs. Industry analysts, consumer advocates and others expressed concern that a relatively small number signed up on their own -- about one million of the 21 million enrolled so far.

The new figures, which include data through Dec. 13, are the first indication from government officials about how many of Medicare's 43 million beneficiaries will participate in the new program.

The Department of Health and Human Services is expecting between 28 million and 30 million beneficiaries to enroll for the extra drug coverage by the end of 2006.

"We're very much on track for meeting that goal," said Mark McClellan, head of the agency that runs the national insurance program.

Others were less optimistic, saying most of those enrolled would have had coverage anyway.

More than half of the 21 million enrolled, or about 11.1 million, are retirees whose companies, unions or other sponsors are continuing to offer coverage with subsidies or other help from Medicare.

Privately-run Medicare plans called Medicare Advantage, military programs and other arrangements also automatically transferred beneficiaries to the new drug coverage, which began enrollment Nov. 15.

Medicare Rights Center's Robert Hayes said the one million individuals represented less than 5 percent of those eligible. "The majority of people are shunning the program," said Hayes, president of the group, which advocates universal, government-run drug coverage for all Medicare participants.

Wall Street greeted the figures with a lukewarm response.

"They're pretty much in line with what you would expect to see at this point in time," said Peter Costa, an analyst with FTN Midwest. "The individual sign-ups are still yet to come in a significant way, and I think that's what people are waiting to see."

…The new plans vary in the types of drugs they cover and the fees consumers must pay, with some U.S. regions offering up to 20 plans.

AARP, the nation's largest organization representing the elderly, said one million individual enrollees was a good number given the complicated choices.

"Given all the initial concerns that we had ... we're guardedly optimistic that the program has gotten off to a decent start," said David Sloane, the group's managing director of government relations and advocacy.

Medicare officials and other supporters said the numbers showed strong acceptance, especially among employers and others who offer insurance.

Another 500,000 more people are expected to enroll by the end of January, McClellan said, with another overall spike in May as people seek to sign up for 2006 without added penalties.
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