Medicare Part D gets an F on first day.

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

Happy New Year may be a few days off yet for area pharmacists, who found themselves frustrated Tuesday after a new nationwide Medicare prescription program went into effect for elderly customers on Jan. 1.

However, many pharmacies weren't open Sunday, and because the official New Year's holiday was observed widely on Monday, crunch time came Tuesday.

"It's been a terrible day," pharmacist Matt Brazer at the Pharmacy Express in Pleasant Hill said wearily. "We've had a lot of processing problems. We can't get through to the insurance (carriers) to get approval for many prescriptions - we're just trying to figure things out however we can. It's probably going to be like this for half of January before things get straightened out."

Nobody claimed to be having fun Tuesday, as pharmacies struggled to fill prescriptions for senior citizens under the new Medicare Part D program, often without success.

"Insane," a pharmacy technician at CostCo called it.

"Pretty hectic - we're stressed out," Jo Dell Offord of Jo Dell's Drugs on River Road agreed.

"Many people's information hasn't been put into the computer system yet. (The federal government) put this in place, but they don't have a system that can handle it.

`We're spending hours and hours on the phone trying to get authorization for these prescriptions - and still not getting through - and it's completely non-productive."

Not to mention financially draining, especially for small, independent pharmacies such as the Harrisburg Pharmacy, where manager Tony Taylor said all the Medicare Part D processing glitches were costing his business a lot of money.

The computer systems pharmacists rely on to evaluate and OK ordered prescriptions became so jammed with requests on Tuesday "that they're flat-out not answering," Taylor said. "It can take six times or more to try to make contact, and it costs us money each time we submit a request."

Without verification of insurance coverage, pharmacies have limited options - refusing to fill the prescription, giving a partial one to get the patient through until the system gets straightened out or filling the whole prescription on the assumption that the new Medicare Part D plan will pay for it, he said.

"We are part of the medical community - we are very aware that people need this medication," Taylor said. "But we're also a business. We can't let thousands and thousands of dollars in medicine go out the door and not know when - or even if - we're going to be paid for it."

Even so, none of the pharmacists criticized the purpose of Medicare Part D, which is intended to provide prescription drug coverage for senior citizens who had none before and better coverage for at least some who did.

But they had little praise for the way Congress set up the program, delegating the details to private insurance companies that came up with dozens of options - with varying monthly premiums and changing lists of covered drugs - that few senior citizens could readily understand.

Worse yet, some pharmacists said, the legislation left only six weeks for eligible recipients to figure out which, if any, of the Part D plans would be cheaper than their current coverage and would pay for prescriptions they already take or would be most likely to need in the future.

Ruby Letcher, head pharmacist for the Eugene-based Hiron's Drug Stores, faulted the program most severely for failing to get participants completely enrolled before activating an inadequate computer system "that left everyone hanging."

"They knew six months ago what they were going to do, but they didn't get the system or the people ready, and this is what we end up with," Letcher said. "So far, I'd say Medicare Part D stinks."

MEDICARE PART D

A new prescription drug insurance program for people who qualify for Medicare coverage, including 54,000 people in Lane County and more than 40 million nationwide. Those eligible have until May 15 to enroll, but there are many options with varying premiums and coverages.

Federal Medicare helpline: Call [phone]; have ready a list of drugs and dosages already taking as well as the name, address and telephone number of a preferred pharmacy.

Oregon Medicare office: Contact Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance program at [phone].

For local assistance: Call Beth Sutton at the Willamalane Adult Activity Center at 736-4444.