WASHINGTON - New Medicare prescription drug discount cards aren't catching on with seniors, and that could spell disaster for the program's developing drug insurance program.
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From New Jersey to Arizona, few seniors showed up at drug store counters this week as the new discount cards became valid. Although government officials are reluctant to admit it, there are abundant signs seniors are turning their backs on the cards. "Most people are very skeptical about this," Sheehan said. "They're used to empty promises here."
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The focus group research found that a majority of seniors have negative opinions about both the drug card and the coming Medicare prescription insurance program, largely because it doesn't offer a benefit they consider generous enough.
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If large numbers of seniors don't participate in the drug insurance benefit when it begins, the program will collapse. That's because the premium and deductible structure Congress created was predicated on high participation rates, Garin said. The study also found that low-income Medicare beneficiaries, who have the most to gain from the drug cards, understand them the least.
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