Government has trouble getting people to use new Medicare discount
WASHINGTON The new Medicare drug card is running into a serious problem -- the government can barely give the discounts away. The card offers price cuts on prescription drugs for elderly or disabled Americans. But so far, interest is anemic at best.
The law turns one year old this week, but only one-and-a-half (m) million people have signed up. More than seven (m) million people are eligible.
At one point, the companies sponsoring the program sent out two (m) million cards, telling people they only needed to make a phone call to activate their account. Just one-hundred thousand people dialed in.
The White House says every program that deals with the poor has a hard time reaching them.
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