Medicare chief: Get savvy on prescription drug benefit

HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt says patients will expect doctors to answer questions about the new program.

By David Glendinning, AMNews staff. Aug. 22/29, 2005.

Washington -- Medicare, a program that turned 40 years old this summer, is on the cusp of its first major makeover with the launch of the outpatient prescription drug benefit set for January 2006. Officials who are running the show say they need doctors' help to make sure the process goes smoothly.

Health and Human Services officials have hit the road on a nationwide bus tour hoping that the administration can reach out to doctors and seniors alike with vital information -- and reassurances -- about the new benefit. AMNews spoke with HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt about the effort.

Question: What are you trying to accomplish with this bus tour?

Answer: We are meeting with groups who are interested in helping seniors enroll. We're really at the early stage of what is going to be a profound national conversation that will take place in tens of millions of different settings. In many cases, it will be a doctor sitting with his or her patients talking through what their needs are and what plan will suit them best. We're informing that decision by meeting with groups and helping them begin to prepare for what will be many questions from seniors.

Q: Medicare drug plans will be unveiled in October, and beneficiary enrollment will start in the middle of November. What still needs to happen between now and then?

A: We're working on an enrollment system that will be able to accommodate the 41 million people who are eligible. We expect that in the first year 28 million to 30 million will actually enroll, and it will continue to grow from there. We're also working with literally hundreds of partners, but no one will be impacted more than the medical community itself. I recently saw a piece of research stating that more than 50% of seniors would go to their physician for information. So we are meeting with the medical associations, hospitals, community health centers to help them prepare for what inevitably will be a lot of people making inquiries and asking for help.