CMS to disenroll some Part D beneficiaries who are in two plans
The Bush administration on Monday sent letters to hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries to notify them that they are enrolled in two Medicare prescription drug plans and will soon be removed from one plan, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, many beneficiaries who switched plans remained enrolled in the first plan. Beneficiaries in many cases “continued to use the first plan for some or all of their prescriptions, and pharmacies found that they could bill both plans for the same prescription.”
The administration has said that beneficiaries enrolled in two plans might be charged two premiums or improperly billed for other costs. CMS Administrator Mark McClellan said that “[w]ell over a million” beneficiaries are enrolled in more than one plan, but many of them have only filed claims with one plan. An estimated 500,000 beneficiaries will receive notices, which are being sent by Medicare drug plans on government letterhead, as part of the “enrollment reconciliation process,” HHS spokesperson Christina Pearson said.
Ed: how the heck did they end up in two plans in the first place? Could there have been something wrong with the process? Nah……