Bingo!

Wow! 1,162 pages of Part D regulations -- and thousands more pages,
websites, books, and press articles -- condensed into five simple steps.
  Hope that works for me when I hit 65 in '08.

In the meantime, officials from universities, hospitals, health
agencies, advocacy agencies, and watchdog groups say the decision is so
difficult that even reaching an approximate, temporary choice will be
very difficult given the incredible number of complex, ill-defined
choices with huge variations in prices and features. Just avoiding the
donut is in itself a huge issue ... or so the pundits tell us.

In just one week, Kansas alone has paid out more than $1 million [in
free drugs to help people get through their crashed Medicare D system]
and fielded calls for help from 14,000 people. Missouri estimates it may
have to spend several million dollars per month. One report offered this
gem: "The only easy way to compare costs and benefits of competing
plans, for example, is to use tools on Medicare’s Web site,
www.medicare.gov " .... but that doesn't account for the many
state-to-state variations, and ... how "easy" is using that website?

I suspect Jeter's concern is valid, but a) I won't know first-hand for
another two years, and b) my info comes from ... gasp ... the media and
the internet. Is the problem 1) real or hype, 2) a problem only for
people whose primary education source is TV Guide, or 3) simply a
teething problem which will dissipate quickly with experience?

I.P.

Let me inform you of something, Steve.  The majority of people eligible for
Medicare Part D do not have computers and/or are not computer literate.  You
need that to do your Steps 2 and 4.  I happen to have a computer, I am
computer literate, and I have two post-graduate degrees.  And I had a hell
of a time trying to figure out in which program I should enroll my
mother--who is in a nursing home---and whose drug names, forms, and dosages
do not always correlate with those listed in the formularies.  I am a
responsible adult.  I do think.  So does that little old lady, living alone
on a Social Security pension who doesnt have a computer.  Please be careful
with the arrogant responses.

Regards,

Claude

That last caveat looks like a show stopper to me.  How do you
figure out what meds you will need later when you develop -
what - heart disease? kidney disease? Alzheimer's disease?
who knows?

What if one plan has a little more extensive formulary, but fewer
of the drugs you need right now, and another is vice versa?

What about the drugs that are being invented this year and next
year and aren't in anyone's formulary yet?  How do you know
who is going to cover them?

Are there guarantees that the drugs covered this year will be the
same ones covered next year when you go to renew your insurance?

I'm not an expert on this and, because I'm not old enough to
qualify, I haven't yet put in any time studying it.  Still, I can't recall
any other government benefit program that was this convoluted
and confusing, or that put quite so much burden on the citizen
to make difficult choices with insufficient information.

   Alan