Prepare for Medicare Part D launch in January.(Practice Trends)

SAN DIEGO -- Physicians will face many questions about new Medicare Part D benefit in coming months as patients decide whether to enroll and which plan to select in the voluntary prescription drug program, Elizabeth Carder-Thompson said at the annual meeting of the American Health Lawyers Association.

CMS has begun posting informational resources on its Web site, and additional materials will become available over the next few months. The best resource at this time is the "Outreach Toolkit," available by download or on CD-ROM, said Ms. Carder-Thompson, a lawyer with Reed Smith LLP.

"The Outreach Toolkit doesn't answer all the questions we want answered, but it's a good start," she said.

Enrollment for Part D begins on Nov. 15, 2005, and patients must enroll by May 15, 2006, or face a financial penalty when they do.

The new coverage goes into effect Jan. 1, 2006, and the interim discount drug card program ends at that time. That means Medicare beneficiaries will need to make fairly complicated choices in a short time.

There will be at least two part D prescription drug plans available in each geographic area, and plans may include several subplans.

A Kaiser Family Foundation survey, conducted March / April 2005, found that seniors are more likely to turn to their doctor (49%) or pharmacist (33%) for help in making these decisions, rather than to Medicare information sources (23%). About two-thirds (68%) of those surveyed said they did not have a good understanding of the new benefit.