Promise and Perils for Patients and Physicians

Abstract

On January 1, 2006, the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) will become a fact of life for 42 million Medicare beneficiaries and their physicians. For the past three months, America's older citizens have been barraged with educational and marketing initiatives for various drug plans, though it has been an uphill battle: an October poll indicated that 61 percent did not understand the program “somewhat well” and 54 percent did not intend to sign up for coverage.¹