WASHINGTON - Nearly two years after it was launched, the Medicare prescription drug plan is still plagued with confusion and computer foul-ups, costing seniors money and complicating their access to the benefit.
Among the thousands who have had problems is Clarence Saalfeld, a 67-year-old Florence resident, who enrolled in the Medicare Part D plan in December 2005. But he had to fight Social Security and Medicare for 11 months before they stopped charging him for two separate prescription drug plans.
Before Saalfeld's plan went into effect in January 2006, he switched plans to pay his third-party provider directly. That's when his problems began.
Both Medicare and Social Security repeatedly told the caseworker in Davis' office that Saalfeld's plight was someone else's problem or that it had been resolved. The first plan provider told the caseworker in April that it had stopped receiving Social Security payments. However, Social Security continued to withhold premiums from Saalfeld's check.
Premiums of about $14 were withheld from Saalfeld's February Social Security check for his canceled Medicare plan. He also got a bill from his new provider for $22. That went on for months. "I live on a fixed income, so I couldn't make that up," Saalfeld said. "Luckily I had some savings, but I'm sure other people have been very hurt by it."
Seniors nationwide are experiencing problems like Saalfeld's, which have arisen since the federal government launched the Medicare Part D prescription drug program in January 2006. The program has been troubled with computer errors and a confusing array of choices that are only beginning to be straightened out.
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