Agency Uncovers Problems in Drug Discount Program

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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/01/politics/01medicare.html

December 1, 2005
Agency Uncovers Problems in Drug Discount Program

By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 - <snip>The problems included inaccurate and incomplete information - disseminated by the government and insurance companies - and improper use of the discount cards to buy barbiturates and certain other drugs, explicitly forbidden by Congress.

The Bush administration had said the discount cards would cut retail prices of prescription drugs by 10 percent to 25 percent. But the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said Medicare officials could not document the savings because "there was a lack of reliable data" on the price concessions obtained from drug manufacturers and pharmacies.

<snip>In its report, the accountability office, a nonpartisan arm of Congress, made these points:

¶Information about discount cards, posted on a government Web site and sent to beneficiaries, was often inaccurate. Many pharmacies listed as participating in the program did not do so. Beneficiaries complained that such pharmacies would not accept their cards.

¶Insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers frequently violated federal rules by sending out incomplete, inaccurate information about their own Medicare-approved discount cards.

¶Financial audits of 15 drug cards found that the sponsors of all 15 cards had improperly used Medicare money to pay for barbiturates and other drugs they were forbidden to cover. Incorrect payments totaled $1.3 million.

¶Sponsors of five drug cards allowed beneficiaries to receive subsidies that exceeded the statutory maximum of $600 a year.

¶Enrollment was lower than expected because of "confusion and misperceptions about the drug cards among Medicare beneficiaries." The "abundance of choices" and the cards' uncertain value may have discouraged some people from enrolling.<snip>