(Washington D.C.)- At the first full House Ways and Means Committee oversight hearing on the new prescription drug program, U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D-Royal Oak), a senior member of the Committee, today sought answers from the Bush Administration about the millions of seniors now locked-out of receiving drug coverage because of the confusing and complicated nature of the enrollment process. Levin also inquired about how many seniors are now locked-into drug plans with gaps in coverage and other limits on benefits of which they may not be aware. Representatives of the Bush Administration continued to use selective and misleading statistics to claim victory, rather than engaging in a discussion about the millions of seniors who are now locked-out of coverage or the problems ahead for those locked-in.

"The Administration needs to answer the tough questions about those seniors locked-out of receiving drug coverage and what may be ahead for seniors who are locked-into drug plans until next January," warned U.S. Rep. Levin. "Many seniors are blocked from coverage because of the confusing nature of the enrollment process. The numerous of those who were able to navigate the complicated process are on their way to a giant hole in coverage where they?ll have to pay for all of their own medicines. We have requested information about the level of coverage in the different drug plans, but the Administration has refused to provide it. Once again, the Administration seems more interested in declaring victory than addressing the real problems."

Research by the General Accounting Office and other objective resources have found that many seniors did not receive complete and accurate information prior to enrollment, so many seniors may not been aware that more than 80 percent of the plans being offered have a gap in coverage in which the beneficiary pays premiums, but does not receive any help paying for medications.

The current rules of the new drug program do not allow seniors to switch plans after the passed May 15th deadline, even if they received incomplete or misleading information about the plan structure. Seniors who enrolled in the new drug program are locked-into to their plans and unable to switch until the next open enrollment period of November of 2006, where their new coverage would not begin until January 2007.  Experts believe that many seniors will reach the so-called "dough-nut hole," in which they pay premiums but do not receive any drug coverage until they have spent thousands of dollars of their own money, sometime this summer. Many of the seniors who have already encountered the gap in coverage were unaware of it, or did not realize that while in the gap they were not allowed to shop around for lower drug prices or seek help with drug costs from friends and family. If they do, their expenditures will not count toward the total needed to qualify them to begin receiving help from their plans again.  The Administration has refused to provide information regarding the level of coverage in the various drug plans. 

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