News Bulletin: Having Problems With Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Coverage?

The new Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, Part D, began on January 1, 2006, and affects all 60,000-80,0000 individuals with AIDS across the country who receive Medicare coverage.

In the first weeks of the new program, Part D beneficiaries have already experienced a number of significant problems accessing their medications. These problems include individuals being asked to pay higher co-pays than they should, not being automatically enrolled in a plan, or being told they had no Part D coverage when they had in fact signed up.

The San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Project Inform encourage individuals who are continuing to experience difficulties with Part D to let us know -- we can help you resolve these problems, and your story will help us advocate to improve the program. We can be contacted by email at dvangord@sfaf.org or adonnelly@projectinform.org.

"Medicare Prescription Coverage" in the Summer 2005 issue of BETA explains Part D at length. We encourage you to refer to this article and to check the AIDS Foundation and Project Inform Web sites for regularly updated information about the new program at www.sfaf.org/policy/medicare and www.projectinform.org.