Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CMS Spent Millions On Tool To Help Medicare Beneficiaries, But It's Giving Seniors Wrong Info On Plans
ProPublica: The $11 Million Dollar Medicare Tool That Gives Seniors The Wrong Insurance Information
The federal government recently redesigned a digital tool that helps seniors navigate complicated Medicare choices, but consumer advocates say it’s malfunctioning with alarming frequency, offering inaccurate cost estimates and creating chaos in some states during the open enrollment period. Diane Omdahl, a Medicare consultant in Wisconsin, said she used the tool Friday to research three prescription drug plans for a client. The comparison page, which summarizes total costs, showed all but one of her client’s medications would be covered. When Omdahl clicked on “plan details” to find out which medicine was left out, the plan finder then said all of them were covered. (Johnson, 11/25)
In other Medicare news —
The Star Tribune: UnitedHealthcare Opening Centers In Walgreens Stores
UnitedHealthcare is launching new service centers for Medicare beneficiaries in more than a dozen Walgreens stores — a second partnership in as many years between the pharmacy giant and Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group, which is parent company to United's large health insurance business. Scheduled to open in January, the service centers will offer information about coverage options plus the chance to schedule an annual wellness visit within pharmacies in the Las Vegas, Phoenix, Cleveland, Denver and Memphis markets. (Snowbeck, 11/25)
