We are telling Medicaid individuals to wait and see which plan they are enrolled in. Most of the plans will match people's needs. There may be a situation where a specific drug is not being covered or a pharmacy is not on their list, but for those people changes can be made.
Unfortunately the drug finder program being offered through the Medicare Web site is not yet up and running. It is the main tool that will help us counsel people and on the costs and benefits of each plan.
With 17 plans available in Wisconsin and 43 options within those plans, it is very confusing to most individuals. There are massive amounts of mail being sent out. Most people are just so overwhelmed that they are tossing it all out.
We had 150 people attend an information session in Rice Lake. That tells you how confusing it is. Organizations, such as the Wisconsin Retired Teachers Association, are holding their own meetings and making recommendations to their members.
We have seniors who are on Senior Care that have now been enrolled in another program because someone shared the wrong data. We are now having to un-enroll people from a program they never should have been enrolled in in the first place.
At least we feel now people will be able to walk out with their medications in hand.
Insurance companies have comparison charts for plans within their company. It's not as good as having the one web site, but it is another option for people who want to start researching. We continue to check the Medicare site every day.