WP: Study Finds Medicare Telephone Operators Often Give Bad Information

[DeepModem Mom]

Study Finds Medicare Operators Often Give Bad Information
By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 4, 2006; Page A10

With less than two weeks remaining for seniors to sign up for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, an independent review has found that Medicare's telephone operators frequently give callers false or incomplete information, reviving calls by Democrats to extend the May 15 deadline.

The report released yesterday also found that Medicare's written promotional materials used too much technical jargon, that call waiting times lasted from a few minutes to almost an hour, and the government Web site was so confusing that some people gave up before completing the process.

Posing as seniors or individuals helping a senior, investigators for the Government Accountability Office placed 500 calls to 1-800-MEDICARE and found that about one-third resulted in faulty information or none at all.

The quality of service varied widely. On a question relating to which seniors qualified for discounted plans, customer service representatives gave correct information 90 percent of the time.

When asked which drug plans were most appropriate and least expensive for an individual, however, the accuracy rate fell to 41 percent. Often, Medicare representatives incorrectly told callers they required personal data such as a Social Security number. In fact, they can provide general information but would be able to give more sophisticated guidance with the personal data....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/03/AR2006050302182.html

[lovuian]

1. Isn't this what the Bush administration is all about

DISINFORMATION = LIES!!!

[Lugnut]

2. I'm not surprised

How anybody can figure out this boondoggle is beyond me. The whole thing is one big bad joke.