Soon-to-Be PharmDs Teach Part D to Nursing Students

by Jeff Miller

Before a crowded room of sometimes astonished first- and second-year nursing students, five doctor of pharmacy students delivered the "good, bad and ugly" facts about Medicare Part D Wednesday, May 3, in Health Sciences West 300.

The interschool exchange, coordinated by the School of Pharmacy's health policy expert Helene Levens Lipton, PhD, and School of Nursing health care maven Charlene Harrington, RN, PhD, offered a rare opportunity for students themselves to share expert, patient-centered information across academic lines.

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Despite detailed coverage of the issues, choices and challenges surrounding the prescription drug plan known as Medicare Part D, the pharmacy students -- Tony Chung, Troy Drysdale, Jesica Mangun, Luke Tso, and Dave Smith -- reminded the audience of both the little-known or still confounding details. They included:

• No matter the plan, certain drugs are not covered. Among them: over-the-counter drugs, supplements, barbiturates, fertility medications, erectile dysfunction drugs, sleeping drugs and hair growth products. • Medicare Part D is a prescription drug plan subsidized by the federal government, but not run by the government. It represents a privatization of government-sponsored health care. • Taking into account the so-called "doughnut hole" - or gap - in insurance coverage, the typical recipient would not see enormous savings in his or her drug costs until spending $3,600 out of pocket. For those with drug expenses above $5,100, the annual savings in a Medicare Part D plan could be substantial. • If a drug is not in a plan's formulary and a patient buys it on his or her own, the cost of that purchase does not count toward the $5,100 figure. • The penalty clause for those who don't sign up by May 15, 2006, which is 1 percent of the average national premium per month not enrolled, is designed to force healthier seniors into the insurance pool to reduce risk to the plans. • California alone has 48 different Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. • Health care providers - including nurse practitioners - are expected to see a big jump in paperwork because of the number of plans and the different formularies. Drugs plans can change their formulary at any time with 60 days' notice. • There are no standard enforcement procedures. In general, patients need to look out for themselves. The take-home message: Patients will need informed advocates to help them navigate a complex system over which they have little or no control. An alliance between pharmacists and nurses, both Lipton and Harrington agreed, was a good place to start.

Nursing students listen intently to Pharmacy students' presentations on Medicare Part D