When Mike Leavitt first came to Rhode Island last summer to promote the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, the feeling across the country was that the new program was so complex, that millions of seniors would just avoid it.
Flanked by local officials at a Warwick senior center, the Health and Human Services secretary tried to assuage everyone’s concerns in advance.
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“If you’re a senior, don’t worry,” he said. “There will be plenty of people to help you.”
It turns out that despite all the confusion, and all the bad publicity at the beginning of the year when some enrollees’ coverage didn’t work, most seniors weren’t scared off at all.
In a conference call on Wednesday, with just six days before the May 15 sign-up deadline, Leavitt announced that Medicare Part D enrollment hadn’t just surpassed early predictions of 28 million to 30 million: It had already passed 37 million and was still rising.
“With the help of so many, we’ve been able to make history,” Leavitt said, adding that, if all went well, 90 percent of eligible seniors could be enrolled by the deadline.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did not release updated state-by-state figures, but as of April 18, 127,020 of Rhode Island’s 176,960 Medicare beneficiaries – 72 percent – had prescription coverage, according to the Medicare Rx Access Network of Rhode Island, an alliance that is promoting the program.
At that point, coverage nationwide was at 70 percent (as of May 8, when Leavitt’s numbers were tallied, it had surpassed 86 percent), so Brian Cresta, regional administrator for Medicare, said Rhode Island’s numbers likely have kept rising as well.
“Nationally, we’ve been enrolling about 650,000 people a week,” Cresta said.
CMS figures as of April 27 show that about 44,500 Rhode Islanders had enrolled in stand-alone Part D plans, with the biggest share – 20.7 percent – going to UnitedHealthcare, which has marketed its plans through the AARP and produced a widely distributed Part D guide.
Humana Insurance Co., which offered the lowest-priced plan, for $7.32 a month, seized a 17.8-percent market share, while Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island had 13.5 percent.
But Rhode Island is an unusual market, officials say, because Medicare Advantage plans are extra-popular here. As of April 27, 49,400 seniors in the state were in such plans, 70 percent of them with Blue Cross and 29.4 percent of them with United. (The balance of those covered, a CMS spokeswoman said, are getting prescription coverage from other sources.)
Cresta said the biggest help with enrollment has been “word-of-mouth” from seniors who’ve found the benefit works well for them. Not that CMS would rely on word-of-mouth alone: 46,000 outreach events have been held nationwide, 1,000 of them last week.
The Medicare Rx Access Network held its own educational and promotional event on Monday at the East Providence Senior Center, and Lt. Gov. Charles J. Fogarty, who is heavily involved in elderly affairs, co-hosted a meeting with legislative leaders at a senior center in Pawtucket on Wednesday, “This is a work in progress,” Fogarty said in an interview. “There are clearly some issues that still need to be worked out. … But we believe that a proper use of the program cannot only help keep people healthy, but can also save money – direct state dollars.”
At least some seniors are already saving money, Monday’s event showed. Beverly Gofton, of Warwick, who is diabetic said even after paying her premium, she’s saving $95 a month. “Last December, I paid $147 for my monthly supply of insulin,” she said. “In January, I went back with my card, and I only paid a $28 co-pay.”
