The number of Medicare drug discount cards that will be available nationally to all beneficiaries has increased to 36 as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services continues to approve cards ahead of the May 3 date to begin enrolling members.

CMS approved the first batch of 27 national cards on March 25 (¹ [A#00660130003], p. 6). Under a "reconsideration" process, CMS has been approving additional sponsors on a rolling basis. The total number of cards approved as of April 21 was 71, of which 36 will be offered nationally.

Among the sponsors not on CMS' original list but that were subsequently approved for national coverage are McKesson and ScriptSave.

McKesson said its "Rx Savings Access" card will have an "open" formulary; ScriptSave also said its "Premier" card will cover all brand name and generic drugs allowed by Medicare.

The expanding pool of Medicare cards also includes Pfizer, which formally announced an agreement to work with UnitedHealth Group on the "U Share" card (see ² Also see "Pfizer’s Coalition Of The Willing: “U Share” Will Be Medicare Card Brand" - Pink Sheet, 26 April, 2004.).

While two national sponsors are offering cards at no charge and a majority will cost less than the $30 maximum allowed, HHS expects more to lower their annual fee before enrollment begins.

"I think before this all goes live you'll see other cards changing their enrollment fee in order to meet this competitive imperative," HHS Director of Medicare Outreach Julie Goon told an Alliance of Minority Medical Associations/National Minority Health Month Foundation conference April 19 in Washington, D.C.

CMS also expects some cards will be discontinued or combined as the market shakes out.

In addition to its other outreach activities, CMS has begun training Congressional staff to answer questions about the card program, Goon said. The agency held its first training session for Senate district office staff April 19. District staff training in the House began April 23.

CMS expects "a lot of members of Congress will get constituent questions about this drug card."

Medicare Rx Discount Plans Proliferate: 36 National Cards Now Approved

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