Shifting Drug Prices Muddy Medicare Card Choice

As the June 1 launch date for the Medicare discount drug card program nears, millions of elderly and disabled Americans are grappling with a bewildering array of choices.

Enrollees can select only one card and can switch cards only once. So participants are scrambling to find the one card that offers the best prices for the drugs they take. But the card sponsors and drug manufacturers have made that task nearly impossible as prices are changing even before the program has begun, say patient advocacy groups.

"I fear this is going to be extremely confusing to people," said Suzanne H. Jackson, who directs the insurance counseling center at George Washington University. "The people least able to cope with all of this complexity are being asked to fend for themselves."

Take the Pharmacy Care Alliance card accepted by CVS, Rite Aid, Giant and other large retailers. It's one of 73 being offered across the country as part of the new Medicare law. The card's enrollment booklet promises discounts of up to 20 percent on brand-name drugs and 40 percent on generics. And many of the prices for brand-name drugs are competitive.

But most are already outdated.

Since the enrollment booklet was printed in March, the Pharmacy Care Alliance has changed prices on 58 of the 93 listed brand-name drugs, a review by The Washington Post has found. Thirty prices rose and 28 declined.

And some prices can easily be beaten: Drugstore.com, for example, had better deals yesterday on 37 of the 63 drugs that were offered in 30-day quantities by both the discount card and the Internet pharmacy.

The outdated prices in the Pharmacy Care Alliance's glossy 20-page booklet underscore the challenge faced by millions of senior citizens as they search for new ways to save money -- picking a drug discount card that will be as attractive tomorrow as it is today.

Under Medicare rules, card sponsors can change their prices once a week. So a card that's best for a senior citizen one week may be the worst the next week.

Bush administration officials have trumpeted the discount card program as a way for elderly Americans to save money until the full Medicare drug benefit goes into effect in 2006. And with prices posted on the www.medicare.gov Web site and available on toll-free telephone lines, the program offers seniors new tools to compare current drug prices, they say.