Nearly two years after it was launched, the Medicare prescription drug plan is still plagued with confusion and computer foul-ups, costing seniors money.
Now, Connecticut is at the forefront of a class action lawsuit to fix the problems.
Among the thousands who have had problems is 67-year-old Clarence Saalfeld, who enrolled in the Medicare Part D plan in December 2005. But he had to fight Social Security and Medicare for 11 months before they stopped charging him for two separate prescription drug plans.
Before Saalfeld’s plan went into effect in January 2006, he switched plans to pay his third-party provider directly. That’s when his problems began.
Premiums of about $14 were withheld from Saalfeld’s February Social Security check for his canceled Medicare plan. He also got a bill from his new provider for $22. That went on for months. “I live on a fixed income, so I couldn’t make that up,” Saalfeld said. “Luckily I had some savings, but I’m sure other people have been very hurt by it.”
Seniors nationwide are experiencing problems like Saalfeld’s, which have arisen since the federal government launched the Medicare Part D prescription drug program in January 2006. The program has been troubled with computer errors and a confusing array of choices that are only beginning to be straightened out.
Proposed by the Bush Administration and passed in Congress in 2005, the Medicare Part D plan aimed to fill a gap in Medicare’s coverage by helping to pay for prescription drugs. The expansion allowed seniors to receive coverage either through the federal government or through private insurance companies.
Fighting The Government
But the program is confusing and can be costly. Among the dissatisfied are eight Connecticut and Massachusetts residents who sued the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the commissioner of the Social Security Administration in June for improperly withholding money from their Social Security checks.
They are attempting to turn the case, Machado v. Leavitt, into a class-action lawsuit, representing all other seniors who are experiencing similar problems.
Carol Trisciuzzi, 73, of Mystic, continues to be charged for two plans, according to the lawsuit. Trisciuzzi, one of the plaintiffs in the Machado case, switched to a health care provider with a lower monthly premium in December 2006. However, both premiums, for $28.80 and $13.40, are being withheld from her Social Security checks.
DHS does not comment on ongoing lawsuits, said Jeff Nelligan, spokesman for the agency. According to court documents, the agency has until later this month to file a response.
Saalfeld, a retired manager of maintenance and facilities director at Tyco Healthcare Group, struggled with the Social Security Administration and the Medicare agency for nine months.
Saalfeld said he contacted supervisors at the agencies’ regional and national offices but said they seemed untrained and unhelpful. He said they told him their computers weren’t working together, and Social Security didn’t receive changes Medicare sent.
