I am seeing stories all over the place about how few senior citizens are signing up to use any of the new Medicare drug cards. If you will use today's column as a starting point, you can help your readers, viewers, or listeners to get moving. Don't think this is just a senior citizen issue. Millions of younger adults are having to make these selections for senior family members. (Me, for example.)
Tomorrow will mark the beginning of the second week of the sign-ups, and pharmacists, who thought they would see a wave of folks joining discount programs, now say seniors are not signing up.
Forty-one million seniors are eligible; only a half-million have signed up. Of course Democrats are already lining up to call it a failed program.
Terry Savage at the Chicago Sun-Times says we all should help seniors to make good choices. Terry urged web-savvy readers to clip a copy of his article and pass it along to a senior citizen. Now you can do the same online.
Terry writes:
Who can enroll?
Medicare drug discount cards are available to anyone age 65 or older, who is eligible for or already enrolled in either Medicare Part A or B, as long as they do not have drug coverage under Medicaid. The cards will be available until Dec. 31, 2005, when Medicare Part D -- Drug Coverage -- will replace it.
How much can you save?
The drug cards typically offer discounts of 10 to 15 percent on more than 200 drugs commonly used by Medicare beneficiaries. But you can realize more savings on generic drugs. And some drug cards also offer discounts on non-prescription drug items.
That should be simple. But 73 different drug cards are being offered. And here's the big catch: They don't all have the same prices on the same drugs! So if you take multiple drugs, the comparison process can be complicated.
It's also important to know that the prices of the drugs can change weekly while you're locked into the card you choose now for the rest of the year. In December you can switch programs, but then you'll be locked in for the next full year.
How much do they cost?
Each card issuer can set its own price for a card, up to a maximum of $30 a year. But low-income seniors get a $600 government subsidy for their prescriptions. These seniors will pay a co-insurance payment at the pharmacy of either five or 10 percent, and the remaining bill will be covered through the $600 benefit.
Where do you pick up your drugs?
Each drug card must offer sales at a local pharmacy, although many plans also have mail-order options. You may opt for mail-ordering a required three-month supply of drugs you take regularly to save even more, and visiting a participating local pharmacy for other prescriptions.
How to choose the right card?
In choosing your Medicare drug card, it helps to have a computer. Although you can call the government's toll-free number, (800) MEDICARE, to get help in choosing the best card, the waiting time is long, and it's much more complicated than if you can see your options on a computer screen.
The only place to start is www.Medicare.gov, the Medicare website. At the top of the home page, click on "Find Medicare Cards and Compare Prices."
It will take you to a page explaining how the cards work and who is eligible. Then click on "Quick Search" at the top of the page. That takes you to a page where you'll be asked to insert your ZIP code so the computer can find local drug card programs. On that same page, you'll see a list of more than 200 drugs. Click on the ones you regularly use and create your own list. If you make a mistake, you can always change your list.
When you click "Continue," you'll be asked to review your dosages to make sure you have the right dosage and frequency. That's why you need your pill bottles right in front of you.
Click again on "Continue," and in a moment you'll see a page listing all your drugs and the total of your drug prices at card programs with pharmacies in your area and by mail. But you need to go one step further and compare prices of the individual drugs.
So put a check mark next to the two or three lowest price deals, and at the bottom of the page click "Continue." That will show your individual drug prices with each program's discount card. Now you're ready to choose a card. Just click on the name of the plan with the lowest prices, and you'll get information to contact the plan and sign up for your card.
Reagan Resources
We have been working this weekend to build resources pages for you to help your coverage of the death of President Reagan.
The Newseum had 240 Sunday newspaper front pages from 33 countries covering President Reagan's death. The different treatments of the story, especially in the images the papers use, is fascinating.
*The Arizona Daily Star used a sketch of a smiling Ronald Reagan. The image gives a very different feel than the photos many papers used.
*The
Modesto Bee's image of President Reagan stretched nearly the entire front page. In the
Orange County Register, Reagan is wearing a cowboy hat.
*A number of papers used images, as
The San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Post and the
Star Tribune did, that showed the President standing in front of an American flag. The
Post's front was stark, with just the photograph and the words "Ronald Reagan (1911-2004).
*El Nuevo Herald, The Indianapolis Star, The San Antonio Express-News, and the
Orlando Sentinel all showed a saluting President Reagan. I loved the San Antonio headline "Goodbye, Gipper."
*
The Oregonian had multiple images on the front page. The paper used pictures of the President in a cowboy hat, playing football, and saluting in front of an American flag.
Here are
some photos, speeches, quotes pages, and biographies that make for great website material. My Poynter colleague,
researcher David Shedden, has built a marvelous collection of resources. And it is interesting to see how the
world press is covering this moment in history.
D-Day MemoriesThe
Newseum has a wonderful D-Day newspaper front pages site.
Home Equity Line of Credit Rising
A new government report says about 7.2 million homeowners took out home equity lines of credit last year, up 12 percent from 2001, when 6.4 million such credit lines were established.
What about a story on what is good (tax deductions, low interest) and what is risky about these loans?
More "Up-Skirting" Arrests (Convergence Alert)
Al's Morning Meeting reader Linda Wenners, executive producer of special projects at WVEC-TV in Norfolk, says:
We have been covering a few stories over the past week about "up-skirting," where perverts take video cameras and/or cell phone cameras into malls and point the lenses under womens' skirts or shorts. We've had four incidents reported here. In fact, one mother chased a suspect down and the guy was arrested. Police are searching for another guy, who did the same thing at another mall. I thought this might make an interesting story for stations or papers to explore. You can find one of our stories here.
Also, we worked with our partners at The Virginian-Pilot on this.
Al's Morning Meeting readers have seen this topic before. I included it a few years ago and then again last month. Here is a quick link.
High School: Then and Now Project
Al's Morning Meeting reader Mike Klein at The Philadelphia Inquirer sent me an idea that is so much fun to read. I think it also makes a great online feature if you add video and sound.
Mike writes:
'Morning Al,
Here's an idea for a slow features day in June, which we did this morning:
We asked local notables a question (in this case, "What do you know now that you wish you had known back in high school?"). We ran the answers with their high school photos and a shot from today. Collecting the answers was not too difficult, but gathering the yearbook photos was a bear. If sources are leery (about) lending out a yearbook, you can use a good digital camera to photograph the snapshots.
Alen Malott, our photo editor, tracked down most of the "today" photos. Sterling Chen, the page designer, got 11 people on our printed section front, which also had two other stories. Since online space is limitless, Jennifer Musser-Metz of our online desk put together all 19 of our responses and posted them.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note:
Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, story excerpts, and other materials from a variety of websites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed, and a link will be provided, whenever possible.
