Nation Watch—Advocacy
Medicare Part D Monitoring Project
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A project to collect and examine issues with Medicare's prescription drug coverage is being undertaken by Medicare Rights Center (MRC). This advocacy group is an independent source of health care information and assistance for people with Medicare. Founded in 1989, MRC helps older adults and people with disabilities get good, affordable health care.
In an effort to improve the new Medicare drug benefit, an anonymous online form is available for contributing your experiences, frustrations, and problems. Besides specifying what the issues are, you are also asked to describe the steps did taken to address the problem, and note the results received.
These stories will help shape the Center's advocacy efforts, in order to get Washington to address the problems.
More information as well as the online form is at:
http://www.medicarerights.org/partdstories.htmlThe Health Assistance Partnership (HAP) is also gathering experiences about Medicare Part D. HAP addresses the needs of the nation's consumer health assistance programs that help people with health insurance problems. The Partnership provides assistance and resources in the areas of Medicaid, Medicare, Private Insurance, and the uninsured.
In an email to its list's subscribers, HAP's Director posted the following:
"HAP is hearing anecdotal stories about SHIP clients who have reported to hospital emergency rooms and/or been hospitalized because of their inability to access medically necessary medications under Medicare Part D.
Several national reporters are interested in case particulars. Therefore, if one of your clients or a person that you know visited the ER or was hospitalized because of problems accessing medications, please contact those individuals as soon as possible about their willingness to share their stories with the media. If they are willing to do so, please provide me with their contact information so that I can speak to them first.
Ellen Leitzer serves as the Director of Health Assistance Partnership Program