WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 - The Bush administration said Tuesday that more than 2.6 million people had voluntarily signed up for Medicare's prescription drug benefit in the last 30 days, pushing the total voluntary enrollment to 3.6 million.
Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, cautioned beneficiaries that they might still encounter problems when they tried to use the new benefit for the first time.
Since the drug coverage took effect on Jan. 1, many low-income beneficiaries have been overcharged, and some were turned away from pharmacies without getting their medications because the pharmacies could not confirm their enrollment.
The problems have been so widespread that more than 20 states have stepped in to pay drug claims that should have been paid by the federal Medicare program.
Read more from this post.
