Americans United Joins in Demanding Bush Administration Release Part D Call Center Performance Data

Published Reports: Insurance Companies Failing to Meet Performance Standards, Lobby Bush Administration to Withhold Performance Data Government Said it Would Release to Aid Seniors

Washington - Americans United today joined federal lawmakers in calling on the Bush Administration to release a review of the performance of the call centers of private insurance plans which are signing up seniors for the Part D prescription drug benefit.

Published reports, including a story in Monday's New York Times, have exposed confusion, delay and long wait times on the phone for seniors trying to enroll in plans or trying to access information. Federal standards "say that 80 percent of calls must be answered in 30 seconds. Test calls to several large insurers suggest that they frequently miss that goal..." [NY Times, April 24, 2006]. A federal contractor, paid for by U.S. taxpayers, has conducted a performance review of the call centers - a review the Bush Administration had pledged to release to the public. However, with less than three weeks to go before the May 15th deadline for seniors and the disabled to enroll in Part D, the performance review data remains under wraps - apparently as a result of heavy lobbying by insurance companies which hold great sway within the Bush Administration.

A federal contractor is making thousands of calls to insurers to measure the performance of their call centers. Each insurer has received data on its own performance. In many cases, the reports say, federal standards were "not met." Medicare officials had said the data would be publicly available before May 15. Insurers are lobbying against disclosure, saying the federal standards are too stringent. [NY Times, April 24, 2006].

Today, U.S. Reps. John D. Dingell (D-MI), Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), Pete Stark (D-CA), Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) sent a letter to Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, demanding release of the performance data.

"With less than three weeks to go before the May 15th enrollment deadline - and with phones jammed, confusion and anxiety high and wait times getting longer and longer - it is unconscionable that the Bush Administration has not released a taxpayer funded review of these call centers," said Americans United Brad Woodhouse. "Insurance and drug companies and their shareholders got their way in the drafting of Part D - and now it looks like the special interest influence of insurance companies is going to win out over America's seniors once again. This is an outrage. Seniors and disabled Americans - and all Americans - have a right to know the performance of plans and the results of a review which every American is paying for. Seniors and disabled Americans need all the information available to make good judgments about the performance of the myriad of plans which are available. To withhold this information because insurance companies who are failing to meet the minimum standards of customer service fear embarrassment is immoral and wrong. President Bush should instruct Secretary Leavitt to release this data immediately."

NEWS _____________________________________________________

CONGRESSMAN PETE STARK

239 CANNON HOB, WASHINGTON, DC 20515 (202) 225-5065 http://www.house.gov/stark

_________________________________________________________________________________________

13TH DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA

RANKING MEMBER, WAYS AND MEANS HEALTH SUBCOMMITTEE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Wednesday, April 26, 2006

CONTACT: Yoni Cohen, Stark (202) 225-3202

Jodi Seth/Dingell (202) 225-3641

Matthew Beck/Rangel (202) 225-3526

Karen Lightfoot/Waxman (202) 225-5051

Elizabeth Farrar/Brown (202) 225-3401

Ben LaBolt/Schakowsky (202) 226-6903

HOUSE DEMOCRATS SEND LETTER TO HHS URGING DISCLOSURE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG CALL CENTER PERFORMANCE DATA

Information is Critical Before Looming May 15 Deadline

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Representatives John D. Dingell, Charles B. Rangel, Pete Stark, Henry A. Waxman, Sherrod Brown and Jan Schakowsky sent a letter today to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt requesting that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services fully disclose information collected at taxpayers' expense about the performance of Part D prescription drug plan "call centers."

Less than three weeks before the May 15 Medicare prescription drug enrollment deadline, many call centers are failing to respond to beneficiary questions and complaints in an accurate and timely manner. According to press reports, numerous centers are not meeting federal standards. The immediate release and dissemination of performance data is particularly important given the Bush Administration's refusal to extend the enrollment deadline for all Medicare beneficiaries.

The following is the text of the letter:

April 26, 2006

The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt

Secretary

Department of Health and Human Services

200 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20201

Dear Secretary Leavitt:

It has come to our attention that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has information regarding the performance of Part D prescription drug plan "call centers". These call centers are intended to provide critically needed information on plan policies and procedures for Medicare beneficiaries.

Based on press reports, Part D insurance companies have not been meeting federal standards in providing information to beneficiaries through their call centers. We are concerned about how these inaccuracies will affect beneficiaries' abilities to enroll and navigate the new Part D benefit - especially with the May 15th deadline looming in the very near future.

Moreover, we are concerned that CMS is withholding this information from beneficiaries -- and from Congress which has a critical role in oversight of CMS activities. We ask that you provide us -- and the public -- with this information immediately. It is also imperative that this information be presented in a format that allows beneficiaries, and those helping them enroll, to be able to identify specific plans and their performance evaluations. Aggregated data will not be of any help.

According to The New York Times, ("Deadline Near, Jams Are Seen for Drug Plan," April 24, 2006):

"A federal contractor is making thousands of calls to insurers to measure the performance of their call centers. Each insurer has received data on its own performance. In many cases, the reports say, federal standards were "not met."

Medicare officials had said the data would be publicly available before May 15. Insurers are lobbying against disclosure, saying the federal standards are too stringent."

The knowledge of problems at call centers would be extremely valuable for senior citizens and persons with disabilities who have not yet enrolled in a Part D plan or who might want to quickly change plans if they made a choice based on inaccurate information. Medicare beneficiaries, their families and Congress have the right to know about identified performance problems.

Immediate and wide dissemination of this information is particularly vital given the Administration's refusal to extend the May 15th enrollment deadline for all people enrolled in Medicare. For the majority of beneficiaries who are trying to make informed choices in these last weeks, any decisions made based on faulty or incomplete information or coercion may not be corrected until the next plan year starting in January 2007.

Accordingly, we request that you provide us with this performance data immediately and present us with the mechanisms you are using to ensure that this information is widely disseminated to the public at the same time.

Thank you for your attention to this important, timely matter.

Sincerely,

John D. Dingell

Charles B. Rangel

Pete Stark

Henry A. Waxman

Sherrod Brown