News in brief - July 24/31, 2006
Part D plans' call centers get mixed reviews from GAO
Part D plans' call centers get mixed reviews from GAO
Service from Medicare Part D plans' call centers was usually prompt and courteous, but not always accurate, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. A representative was reached in less than one minute for 46% of the 900 calls the GAO placed and in less than five minutes for 96%.
But when the GAO posed one of five questions to customer service agents at 10 of the largest prescription drug plans, it received accurate and complete responses only about one-third of the time. Customer service representatives provided an incomplete answer 29% of the time, an inaccurate response for 22% of the queries and no answer for 15% of the questions.
Health plans said the office's approach resulted in a misleading picture because some of the questions were vague and misleading and asked for information that agents aren't allowed to disclose under the program's regulations.
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