Mary Simpson Quotations

We are telling Medicaid individuals to wait and see which plan they are enrolled in. Most of the plans will match people's needs. There may be a situation where a specific drug is not being covered or a pharmacy is not on their list, but for those people changes can be made.

Seniors, pharmacists, advocates have all been trying to get through to the various agencies and legislators trying to get this straightened out. They are being bombarded with calls.

Pharmacies have been bending over backwards. They are waiting on hold for hours trying to get approval for their customers. They haven't been given any special numbers to help them get through any faster than the rest of us.

I don't know why I was so optimistic about this transition. About every situation you can imagine, we have been dealing with.

I was working with one woman who enrolled in a plan because it had all the medications she needed. Now it doesn't. Her doctor needed to be contacted to write an exception which would allow her to get the coverage. Doctors' offices are now being overwhelmed with these requests.

Unfortunately the drug finder program being offered through the Medicare Web site is not yet up and running. It is the main tool that will help us counsel people and on the costs and benefits of each plan.

With 17 plans available in Wisconsin and 43 options within those plans, it is very confusing to most individuals. There are massive amounts of mail being sent out. Most people are just so overwhelmed that they are tossing it all out.

We had 150 people attend an information session in Rice Lake. That tells you how confusing it is. Organizations, such as the Wisconsin Retired Teachers Association, are holding their own meetings and making recommendations to their members.

We have seniors who are on Senior Care that have now been enrolled in another program because someone shared the wrong data. We are now having to un-enroll people from a program they never should have been enrolled in in the first place.

At least we feel now people will be able to walk out with their medications in hand.

It's just like we're broken glass. They just can't seem to pick up the pieces.

Insurance companies have comparison charts for plans within their company. It's not as good as having the one web site, but it is another option for people who want to start researching. We continue to check the Medicare site every day.