Problems With Medicare Drug Information (AP)

By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Federal investigators posing as senior citizens found that Medicare's operators routinely failed to give callers accurate and complete information about the government's new drug benefit, prompting Democratic critics of the Bush administration program to ask again for an extension of an approaching enrollment deadline.

The Government Accountability Office investigators said that about one-third of their calls resulted in faulty responses or no response at all because of disconnected calls. The accuracy rates varied a great deal based on the question, but when it came to one of the most important questions, operators provided the right answer only 41 percent of the time. That question concerned which drug plan cost the least for a beneficiary based on certain drug needs.

"These findings also point to larger problems," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich. "Because of inaccurate or incomprehensible information, seniors haven't been given a fair shake. The president should extend the May 15th enrollment deadline and not penalize seniors for the administration's errors."

Mark McClellan, the Bush administration's point man on Medicare, defended the agency's customer service when asked about the GAO's report.

"I'm very concerned with it being incomplete, inaccurate and out-of-date," McClellan told members of a House Ways and Means subcommittee on Wednesday.

The GAO's investigators called the 1-800-Medicare line 500 times from Jan. 17 through Feb. 7. They asked five questions — each question 100 times. To develop questions, investigators considered topics on the Medicare Web site.

The GAO also kept track of how long it took for operators to answer the phone. Three-quarters of the calls resulted in operators answering within five minutes. However, for more than one in 10 calls, it took operators more than 15 minutes to answer.

"In one case, we were placed on hold for 54 minutes before being disconnected," the GAO reported.

The investigators also looked at the federal government's Web site, as well as the information described in a handbook sent to all beneficiaries. They found problems there as well.

Program administrators have "not ensured that its communications to beneficiaries and their advisers are provided in a manner that is consistently clear, complete, accurate and usable," the investigators concluded. "Six months have passed since these materials were first made available to beneficiaries, and their limitations could result in confusion among those seeking to make coverage decisions."

Mike Leavitt, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday that his agency has fixed some of the problems cited by the investigators, particularly the wait times for the Medicare hot line.

"We monitored from the very beginning those calls and we saw the same thing, and worked hard to improve it," Leavitt said. "Over the course of time it has improved. We're now down to 2 or 3 minutes. It was too long, and we responded. ... I can say with some satisfaction that things have improved dramatically."

Leavitt said he continued to oppose any extension of the May 15 enrollment deadline. By then, he said, he expects that more than 90 percent of about 43 million Medicare beneficiaries will have prescription drug coverage through Medicare or through other programs.

About 9 million beneficiaries have opted for coverage through the new benefit. McClellan told lawmakers that operators get one week of classroom training followed by two or three additional days of practice calls. They also must pass a written examination. He said customer service surveys indicate 87 percent of beneficiaries are satisfied with their experience with the 1-800 Medicare line. They are particularly pleased with the courtesy of the operators, 97 percent, he said.

In response to calls to delay the enrollment deadline, McClellan said 1.6 million fewer people would enroll this year if there were no deadline. However, Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., countered with projections from the Congressional Budget Office that indicated about 1 million more people would enroll if the deadline were extended until Jan. 1. Many people won't enroll if they have to pay a penalty for signing up late, Stark said.

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On the Net

GAO report: http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-654

Medicare: http://www.medicare.gov