There's been a significant push toward getting seniors to sign up for Medicare Part D in recent weeks, with President Bush stumping for the program. The reason is that after May 15, the price starts going up. Despite appeals from Democrats, and popular support for a delay running at 70 percent, it's unlikely that the deadline will be postponed. So far despite Administration claims that 29 million people are covered under Part D, the truth is that of those who did not have drug coverage before January 1, only a minority have signed up--around 8 million. That worries health insurance wonks, as it's likely that it means that Part D plans will fall victim to adverse selection--only people who are likely to use lots of drugs have signed up. So far that doesn't matter much, as the private plans running the program will have any losses covered. But down the road, unless the program can be made attractive to more seniors, this spells trouble. No insurance pool can survive if it's only attractive to sick people. Meanwhile, in the run-up to the elections, Democrats are already talking about the premium increase as a "Republican tax."
FierceHealthcare will not be publishing on Good Friday. We'll be back Monday. Have a great weekend. - Matthew