26 states spread out a safety net for Medicare

January 19, 2006

NJ.com reports:

Twenty-six states are providing drug coverage to poor elderly anddisabled people falling through gaps in the nation’s new Medicareprescription drug plan, according to a survey that outlineswide-ranging problems with the program.

The survey released yesterday by the National Association of StateMedicaid Directors said such states as Arkansas, California, Kansas,Maine and New York — along with New Jersey — have stepped in to makesure low-income Medicare beneficiaries get their needed medicines.

The survey outlined dozens of problems with the Medicare drugbenefit, some simple and others complex. The survey also fuels thedebate over who eventually will pay for drugs that should have beencovered by the Medicare drug plans.