Medicare recipients across the nation received the first dose of their new prescription drug coverage benefit this week. Not all went smoothly, however. Medicare recipients who chose a drug plan provider prior to the New Year received that plan’s drug formulary in advance and so at least had information as to what specific drugs their particular plan would cover.

Others who did not choose a specific pharmacy benefit provider in advance were assigned a plan one, and many of those patients arrived at their pharmacies to find that certain of their medications were no longer covered by their new drug benefit plan.  Pharmacists found themselves in the position of having to call providers asking them to switch brands or change medication orders so that patients’ medications would be covered.

Many pharmacists tried to check on patients' coverage via a computerized database run by Medicare contractor, NDCHealth, but due to the large volume of requests, the service was responding very slowly earlier in the week.

Long Island Newsday and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel both reported on the problem.