New Medicare program faulted in a big way

Is the Medicare system broken and/or corrupt? That notion has been bandied about for quite a long time now, although the reasons lean more toward incompetence rather than outright dishonestly.

Dual-elegibles -- those seniors who are disabled and therefore also qualify for Medicaid -- were never told that they were eligible to seek reimbursement for some drug-related expenses. Result: tens of millions of dollars never flowed to those that needed it most.

Federal investigators looking into the problem stated that "given the vulnerability of the dual-eligible population, it seems unlikely that the majority of these beneficiaries would have contacted their (insurance plan) for reimbursement if they were not notified of their right to do so." Yep -- why contact anyone for reimbursement when youhave no idea what you are actually entitled to? Yet another communications misstep from the U.S. government in a series of health-related flubs in recent years.