The Web site set up to provide information to seniors looking for information on the new Medicare prescription drug benefit is still lagging behind schedule, CMS officials grudgingly admitted. For the time being, only basic information on the benefit and local plans is available at Medicare.gov. The agency introduced some new features on Monday but did not deliver quite the suite of tools analysts had been expecting. Visitors are not yet able to compare plans, potentially a very serious problem for a benefit that asks participants to carefully weigh their options on scores of competing offerings. CMS administrator Dr. Mark McClellan said the information should be available by the time enrollment in the plan officially starts November 15.
- see this article from the San Francisco Chronicle