Forum Will Help Psychiatrists Explain Medicare Part D

Aforum that will provide APA members with the practical information they need to help their patients navigate Medicare's new Part D pharmaceutical benefit has been added to the schedule of APA's 2005 Institute on Psychiatric Services.

The institute will be held in San Diego from October 5 to 9 (see above box for registration information).

The forum, “Readying for the New Medicare Pharmacy Benefit: The Part D Challenge,” will be sponsored by APA's Office of Healthcare Systems and Financing and chaired by Director Irvin “Sam” Muszynski. It is part of APA's ongoing effort to educate members about Medicare's new prescription drug benefit, which begins on January 1, 2006.

The forum will be held on Friday, October 7, at 10 a.m.

Said Muszynski, “Deciding which Part D pharmacy plan to participate in will be a daunting task for almost all Medicare beneficiaries, but especially for dual-eligible beneficiaries, whose drug benefit will be transferred from their state's Medicaid program to Medicare. We anticipate that patients will be very dependent on their physicians to help them make the right decision.

“Although the implementation timeline of Part D is in place, the details are still being worked out by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. We're hoping that by October 7 we'll have more hard information to provide to IPS attendees.”

Part D will be administered by commercial prescription drug plans (PDPs). Beneficiaries will be able to select the plan that they believe best meets their needs beginning on November 15.

Starting in late October, dual-eligible beneficiaries will be enrolled automatically in one of the PDPs in their region with the lowest premiums. Although they have the right to switch to another plan with an equivalent premium prior to January 1, 2006, their ability to do so greatly concerns patient advocates, given the amount and complexity of information that must be considered in selecting a plan. ▪