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ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- With increasing urgency, pharmacy leaders and federal policy makers are speaking out in an effort to counter widespread criticism of the Medicare-endorsed prescription discount card program from some seniors' groups and consumer advocates. The effort may help spur the relatively sluggish pace of enrollments among Medicare recipients for the more than 70 competing card programs now being marketed to seniors.

The drug discount cards are designed to help beneficiaries with prescription drug costs until the new federal prescription drug coverage, called Medicare Part D, takes effect in January 2006. But confusion among many seniors about the various card programs, coupled with negative publicity about the level of real savings the cards offer, has hampered efforts to sign up many of the 8 million seniors the government has projected would enter the card program this year.

According to focus groups the Henry J. Kaiser family Foundation conducted and reports in various newspapers, including the St. Petersburg Times, many seniors also appear to be skeptical about the program's benefits and are reluctant to lock themselves into one of the dozens of competing card networks.

In response, Mark McClellan, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, is leading a campaign to overcome what he terms "misleading" adverse publicity about the card program. He also announced the kickoff on July 6 of a pilot program, conducted by lottery, that will provide 50,000 patients with cancer and other diseases with the kind of broad prescription coverage that will become available to all Medicare recipients beginning in 2006.

McClellan has some strong allies within community pharmacy. Craig Fuller, president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, in his weekly newsletter June 14, urged, pharmacy leaders to stop "dissing" the discount card. Addressing the nation's seniors, he also asserted that signing up for a card program--either the NACDS-sponsored Pharmacy Care Alliance program or one of the other card offerings--was not very difficult and was well worth the effort.

"The Pharmacy Care Alliance is one of the leading card providers, and we have made a significant investment to make this program work," Fuller noted. "While I have a natural bias for the benefits we offer through the Pharmacy Care Alliance, one advantage of the new Medicare benefit is that there is competition built into the program so that seniors can choose the program that works best for them. So while I encourage seniors to look at what we offer, I urge all seniors who are now paying cash for their medications to participate in the program and take advantage of the meaningful benefits available to them.

"Don't let the critics dissuade you," he added. Every senior who delays participating is losing money."

Also weighing in is the National Community Pharmacists Association, which is sponsoring a card called Community Care Rx on behalf of its independent pharmacy members. NCPA reported last month that Medicare Beneficiaries who signed up for the card were saving an average of nearly 30 percent on their prescription medicines. Those who qualified for the $600 prescription credit available to the lowest-income beneficiaries were receiving discounts of 95 percent, the group asserted.

"The fact that beneficiaries are receiving discounts greater than expected by government officials explains why almost one-half of the nation's pharmacies have agreed to endorse Community Care Rx," said Bruce Roberts, NCPA executive vice president and chief executive officer. "All of health care today is complicated, not just prescription pricing, but ... the fact that we see savings of almost 30 percent right away for people not receiving the $600 credit, demonstrates that the program really works and will have genuine value for our Medicare beneficiaries."

In another recent development, the Pharmacy Care Alliance announced last month that five of its pharmaceutical company sponsors will offer prescription drugs free to qualifying seniors who hold the Medicare-endorsed PCA discount drug card. Cardholders will pay a nominal amount to cover dispensing and other costs.

Making the offer are AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Merck and Novartis. Savings are available to PCA cardholders with incomes of 135 percent or less of the federal poverty level and who qualify for the Medicare $600 annual prescription credit.

"These five manufacturers have made the PCA Medicare prescription discount card even more valuable and easy to use," said PCA president Mary Ann Wagner. "Also very important, this added benefit continues to be available at the PCA cardholder's local neighborhood network pharmacy."