11/18/2004: Will Red Tape Seal Up Drug-Benefit Plans? Hurdle for the New Prescription-Drug Plan Is Bureaucratic (The Christian Science Monitor)

Excerpt: But the major action will take place just over a year from now, when the drug-card program is replaced by a completely different drug benefit that takes effect Jan. 1, 2006. The program's biggest challenge isn't financial; it's bureaucratic. Medicare recipients must sign up for benefits. Critics doubt that vulnerable portions of society - the elderly, poor, and disabled - are up to the task of picking from a sophisticated array of options.