Starting in June, Medicare beneficiaries throughout the country became eligible to participate in a new Medicare-approved prescription drug discount card program. This program is part of the Republican Medicare prescription drug bill passed by Congress and signed into law by the President late last year. The transitional program remains in effect through December 2005. The following is a brief overview of the benefits and shortcomings of the new discount card plan that you need to be aware of.

Confusing Choices

Under the new program, Medicare beneficiaries are able to purchase a private Medicare-approved drug discount card (with a maximum annual fee of $30). Navigating the maze of more than two dozen different Medicare-approved discount cards on the market in California will be difficult for many seniors. Before purchasing a Medicare discount card, you have a few things to consider. First, Medicare beneficiaries are limited to one Medicare-approved card. You can only change cards once during the 2004 year-end open enrollment period. Second, not all pharmacies accept all the discount cards, so check with your local pharmacist before making a decision. The federal web site www.medicare.gov also provides lists of local pharmacies that offer Medicare-approved prescription drug discount cards. However, before signing up, verify the information directly with the pharmacy because complaints have surfaced about the accuracy of the web site's information. Third, for seniors enrolled in a Medicare HMO that offers its own discount card, you may only be allowed to purchase the card affiliated with your HMO.

Questionable Discounts

These cards are being promoted as offering significant price discounts on your prescription drugs. However, the law does not require any specific level of savings and it is very uncertain how much financial help the cards will ultimately provide. If you already have a discount card offered in the private marketplace, your savings will probably not be much different. You can keep any cards you now have as well as multiple non-Medicare-approved cards, but you can only use one card per prescription.

Research Your Prescriptions

The individual medicines you're prescribed also need to be considered when determining which card is best for you. Cards may offer good deals on some of your medications, but no value for others. The specific drugs that are discounted vary among the cards and may even vary within a specific card throughout the year.

$600 Prescription Drug Credit

Seniors and people with disabilities whose incomes are below $12,569 a year for individuals or $16,862 for couples, and who are not enrolled in MediCal or a retiree drug plan, are eligible for a $600 credit toward the purchase of prescription drugs in 2004 and again in 2005. Some drug card companies require enrollees to fill out a separate form to apply for the credit, and require beneficiaries to attest to their income level by signing that form.  

Fraud Alert

There have already been incidences of fraud surrounding these cards. Be wary of offers that sound too good to be true. Beneficiaries should never provide personal information to door-to-door salesmen or during unsolicited phone calls. Drug card sponsors must use approved application forms, and the individual cards must carry the Medicare-approved logo pictured above.

Decreasing Prescription Drug Costs in the Long-term

I hope you've found this information about the Medicare-approved drug discount cards helpful. While the cards may offer some savings to certain seniors, the real long-term solution to providing affordable prescription drugs under Medicare is to bring down skyrocketing drug prices. Unfortunately, Congress missed an opportunity to significantly decrease drug costs in the Republican Medicare reform bill. The Republican bill, which I voted against, actually prohibits the federal government from negotiating lower drug prices for seniors, even though the Department of Veterans Affairs has done it for years. I will continue to fight to correct this wrong and to ensure the Medicare program remains strong in order to better serve our seniors for years to come.

You need and deserve an affordable prescription drug benefit. This expanded benefit, however, must be provided in the right way - by building and improving upon the successful Medicare program that you expect and rely upon.

For more information about the new Medicare-approved prescription drug discount card program and the $600 prescription drug credit, please call The California Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP) at 510-839-0393 or 1-800 MEDICARE, or access the information online at www.medicare.gov and select "Prescription Drug and Other Assistance Programs."

I urge you to use these resources to best determine whether to enroll in the discount card program and to decide which card is best for you. After all, making an informed choice will help you to get the most out of this new program.

(Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard's office offers a wide variety of services to the community, including financial aid workshops, a service academy workshop, a scholarship directory, community fairs about home ownership, crime prevention and health care and constituent casework services to assist district residents in resolving problems with federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration. More information about federal services can be obtained by visiting Congresswoman Roybal-Allard's web site at www.house.gov/roybal-allard or by calling her district office at (213) 628-9230. )