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Medicare
Delays Start of Program to Compare Plans
By
John Dorschner, Miami Herald
October
12, 2005
Medicare postponed the rollout of its tool to compare drug plans due to the Jewish holiday on Thursday.
Trying to choose between more than 40 new prescription drug plans and several dozen health maintenance organizations, South Florida seniors and their adult children helping them will have to wait a bit longer before getting crucial
information.
Medicare.gov is postponing its big rollout that was scheduled to allow comparison shopping starting Thursday. Officials decided to delay the launch because Thursday is the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the agency
announced.
A new date hasn't been selected yet, said Medicare spokesman Peter Ashkenaz, but is expected to be sometime ``in the middle of
October.
''The online tool will allow seniors to plug in their most-used prescriptions and view their best alternatives, considering monthly premium, co-pays, deductibles and the list of preferred
drugs.
Another delay appears to be in finding advisors. Two weeks ago, Medicare chief Mark McClellan announced that in the first week of October, the U.S. Administration on Aging would list services available to tell seniors about the new drug
plans.
The Herald checked out a half-dozen South Florida phone numbers listed at eldercare.gov. Several rang more than three dozen times without a response. One had a recording about high calling volume. After several tries, a reporter reached The Elder Hotline for the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, which suggested two
numbers.
The first number -- 954-714-3464 -- rang to the Aging and Disability Resource Center for Broward County. The woman who answered said yes, the group had advisors ready to assist seniors with Medicare
choices. A number given for Miami-Dade rang more than 30 times with no
answer. Volunteers with the state's Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders (SHINE) Program in Broward and Miami-Dade are being trained to help seniors make decisions, but no specifics were available
Tuesday.
A copy of the Medicare Handbook is scheduled to be sent this month to the homes of Medicare recipients. The handbook will have details about the plans available in South
Florida. Seniors can call 1-800-Medicare for information.
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