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July 27, 2006 at 03:12 PM
Older Americans may be getting used to the new Medicare Part D prescription drug program.
About 29% of the heaviest prescription users who belong to the program say they have had “major problems” with the Medicare drug program, but 59% say the program is working well or could work well with minor changes, according to researchers at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, Calif.
Researchers at the foundation published those results in a summary of a June survey of 1,585 U.S. adults ages 65 and over.
Sicker patients with more complicated health problems may run into problems with a new program faster than individuals who have little need for program benefits.
But 49% of Medicare program members who take 6 or more prescriptions daily said they have had no problems with the program, and 17% have had only minor problems, researchers report.
Although 29% of those heavy prescription users have had major problems, only 18% of the program members who are taking 4 or 5 prescriptions daily said they have had major problems, the researchers say.
