Congressional leaders want the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to move quickly to resolve premium payment problems with the new Medicare prescription drug program.
Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the most senior Democrat on the committee, have announced that they plan to discuss the issue with CMS administrators soon after Congress reconvenes Tuesday.
The senators say they are hearing about a number of beneficiaries who are not being charged for their Part D premiums, or are being charged the wrong premiums, after those beneficiaries have arranged for premiums to be taken out of their Social Security checks.
"These beneficiaries have legitimate concerns about being disenrolled or having coverage interrupted over the administrative confusion," Grassley says in a statement.