We've talked in the past about how Medicare Part D has randomly assigned Medicaid recipients to one of the myriad of available plans. And how maybe 50% of these people have gotten assigned to a plan that doesn't cover all of their medications. And how various non-profits have been working to try to help them switch to the appropriate plan. And how difficult that's been, since many of these people are not equipped to deal with this sort of complexity.
Well, now the states are starting to step in. Yesterday, Massachusetts announced that they will reimburse pharmacies who fill prescriptions at the copayment rates for people who are eligible for Medicaid or other prescription subsidies. (As Medicare Tangles State Guarantees Prescriptions)
This is wonderful for the people who need this help, but it poses a huge burden on the state. Because now there is no incentive for people to switch to a better plan. And from my experiences talking to people, no one wants to switch unless they have to, because they don't want to upset the applecart.
So here we have government program that provides huge subsidies to insurance companies to provide a program, which now the states have to pay for because the private companies aren't doing the job. Is this insane or what?