THE THIRD WAY IN ACTION:

The Drug Benefit: A Report Card (NY Times, 6/05/06)

To its credit, the administration seems to have resolved most of the bureaucratic and computer problems that initially left tens of thousands of people unable to obtain essential medicines quickly. Complaints at pharmacies have dropped precipitously, and callers who once found it impossible to get through to congested help lines now typically wait only a few minutes when trying to reach either Medicare or most individual health plans.

Anecdotal reports tell of beneficiaries who are delighted at big savings on their drug bills now that insurance is picking up most of the tab. But polls show a mixed picture. A New York Times/CBS News poll last month, for example, found that 42 percent of those already enrolled said they were spending less on prescription drugs, 19 percent were spending more, and 30 percent were spending the same amount.

Consumers have been given a vast array of choices among dozens of plans, making it possible to choose coverage that provides the right blend of benefits and costs for each individual. The only problem is too much choice — so many options that consumers can't find their way through the maze. That problem should diminish as Medicare presses the health plans to limit their offerings and some weaker plans drop out entirely. On the bright side, competition has helped keep average monthly premiums much lower than originally forecast — only $25 a month, compared with a projected $37 per month. And the projected cost to the government this year has dropped sharply — to $30.5 billion for 2006, down from $38.1 billion.