In Medicare Maze, Some Find They're Tangled in Two Drug Plans

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/01/national/01medicare.html?_r=1&th=&oref=slogin&emc=th&pagewanted=print
March 1, 2006
In Medicare Maze, Some Find They're Tangled in Two Drug Plans
By ROBERT PEAR

KITTANNING, Pa. — Having struggled to fathom Medicare's new drug coverage, tens of thousands of beneficiaries are perplexed to find themselves actively enrolled in two prescription drug plans at the same time.

Shirley D. Beer, who lives in a mobile home here in western Pennsylvania, illustrates the predicament. Mrs. Beer was assigned to one insurance plan by the federal government, then exercised her right to choose another plan and now seems deeply embedded in both.

The first plan still carries her on its rolls and pays for some of her prescriptions, even though she declared four months ago that she wanted to drop out and had joined the second plan, which covers most of the 12 medications she takes for heart problems, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions.

Many Medicare beneficiaries like Mrs. Beer are entangled in two live plans — two "hot plans," in the lingo of pharmacists. The situation leaves patients at risk of being charged two premiums or incorrect co-payments......