12:41 PM EST on Sunday, November 27, 2005

BY JENNIFER LEVITZ
Journal Staff Writer

Deborah St. Peter and her husband, John Heathcote, are trying to help their elderly relatives navigate the federal government's complex new prescription-drug plan.

Heathcote attended a two-hour Medicare Part D seminar, with notebook and pen.

"He came out and said, 'We're in big trouble,' " St. Peter recalled.

Medicare Part D has turned into an exercise in family frustration in Rhode Island, where 173,000 Medicare beneficiaries -- and often, their relatives -- are now making complicated decisions about their health care.

At information sessions throughout the state, it's not unusual to see several members of one family. Since the six-month enrollment period began, on Nov. 15, sons and daughters have been grappling with Medicare Part D, as they assist their elderly parents. Younger siblings have been helping older ones.

St. Peter, director of the Cranston Senior Center, said more family members need to help.

"Oh my God," she said, "it's just so overwhelming, you could never read through the whole thing on your own."

Though her father, Thomas Santopietro, 86, tried. He quickly announced that he didn't need Medicare Part D.

It was a "delicate" situation, St. Peter said.

Her father is proud, and is also extremely independent and healthy. He takes only aspirin, and still works eight hours a day as an upholsterer. "Anything that moves, he covers it," she said.

Yet, in this case, St. Peter, 56, thought that she might know best.

She worried that, though her father is healthy now, he might have problems later and be without prescription-drug coverage. Also, she had read the fine print, and learned that under the program, he would be penalized with a higher premium later, if he doesn't enroll by May 15, 2006.

She is steering him to sign up. "I just keep telling him, 'it's payback for all the time you nagged me,' " she joked.

IN RHODE ISLAND, people must choose from among 18 private insurance companies offering a total of 44 plans.

As an indication of just how many people need help, the Cranston Senior Center is booking appointments, to help people with Medicare Part D paperwork, into the third week of January.

And a recent Medicare information event at the Warwick Mall drew hundred of seniors, seeking advice from volunteers from the state Department of Elderly Affairs.

Blanche Jackson, 79, and a recent widow, was flanked by her grown son and daughter. Their family was in the early stages of research. "They know less [about the program] than I do," Jackson said.

Also at the mall was Ann Meglio, who is guiding her father, Lawrence DiChiaro, 91, through the decision process.

"We work on everything together," Meglio said. "My brother helps. We all try to help."

And there's a twist: Meglio, who is 65, will be signing up for the new drug program herself.

So far, it has been a frustrating journey.

Meglio -- who retired from the gift shop at Hasbro Children's Hospital, in Providence -- read the "Medicare & You" booklet that came in the mail and "was more confused."

So she went to her father's favorite pharmacy, a neighborhood CVS, to talk to a pharmacist. "She couldn't answer all the questions either," Meglio said.

She also went looking for answers at a Warwick senior center, and on the Internet, which she's not used to navigating.

"All the different companies cover different drugs," Meglio said. "You have to go on each Web site to figure out whether that company would cover the drugs, and then you have to see whether the pharmacies would cover that."

Meglio did give her father some advice -- but he's indepedent, alert, and stubborn, she said.

A retired plumber, he still drives, lives independently, and spends less than $300 a year on prescription drugs. He might actually pay more for medicine under Medicare Part D, because he would have a monthly premium.

Yet, at 91, Meglio said, "who knows what will happen?" He might need more drugs in the future, she thought, and in that case, the prescription-drug insurance would be helpful.

Meglio, who is also healthy, has decided on a plan for herself: the most inexpensive plan, for $7.32 per month.

But nothing is easy.

When she and her father met with a counselor, at a Medicare event at the Warwick mall, a volunteer told her she could not take the cheap plan. She was told, she said, she'd have to take BlueCHiP's plan that includes prescription-drug coverage, for $36 per month, because her medical insurance was with BlueCHiP.

"I haven't got a clue," she said after the counseling session.

Asked how he had made out, DiChiaro angrily said: "You mean, how the companies made out! There's no need for all this."

A few days later, however, Meglio reported that she had called BlueCHiP and been given different information. She says the company told her that she could, in fact, get the plan she wanted, for $7.32 per month.

"This is just more confusion," she said.

And there's more confusion to come.

Meglio can't get the $7.32 plan if she wants to keep her BlueCHiP. Because BlueCHiP is a managed care plan, she has agreed to let the company provide all her services. She has to order Part D coverage under BlueCHiP's plan or she will lose her BlueCHiP health insurance, said Larry Grimaldi, spokesman for the state Department of Elderly Affairs. He added that she could always switch to a new insurance company.

Meglio said that she and her father will wait to sign up. "Maybe by May 15, all this cloudiness is going to disappear," she said.

She and her father share a lot these days.

"He gets confused," Meglio said of her father. "I say 'Hey Dad, I get confused too.' "

IN EAST PROVIDENCE, the Stad clan has also been working on Medicare Part D.

Henry Stad, 86, is adept with government forms. As an AARP instructor, he helps East Bay seniors to do their taxes.

But when the "Medicare & You" booklet sent him to the Internet, he was stumped.

"My grandchild knows more than I do about computers," Stad said, chuckling. "She's 9 years old."

His 40-year-old son helped him to navigate the Internet and print out information on the plethora of prescription-drug plans.

Henry and his brother, Walter Stad, 92, then set out to attend seminars. They needed to learn about the program not only for themselves, but also for their sister, who's 97, and for Henry Stad's wife.

The two brothers -- both retired businessmen -- say they felt like prey at one seminar, in Pawtucket, "run by an outfit -- I won't mention the name," said Stad.

"The guy knew nothing about Medicare. All he did was read a prepared statement," he said. "In the other part of the program, he was trying to sell a financial program. He used this Medicare program to draw people in to listen to his spiel."

The brothers also went to the seminar at the Warwick Mall. They took a number and waited to see a counselor from the Department of Elderly Affairs.

"The word is 'confused,' " said Walter Stad, rolling his eyes.

By last week, Henry Stad had researched 18 companies by phone and was feeling better about enrolling. It took some patience to do his research. With one insurance company, he was left on hold for a half-hour and then told to call back between 6 and 8 p.m. When he did, he was again put on hold for so long he watched a basketball game and just checked the phone now and then to see if anyone had picked up. He finally hung up without talking to anyone.

But ultimately, Stad found that his family could save as much as 40 percent on prescription drugs.

MEDICARE D RESOURCE: Browse Journal coverage on the changes in Medicare D, including Neil Downing's MoneyLine columns, at:

http://projo.com/extra/2005/medicare/