From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Medicare Plan Finder Website Description: Hear what we found after reviewing a website designed to help Americans choose Medicare coverage Related GAO Work: GAO-19-627: Medicare Plan Finder: Usability Problems and Incomplete Information Create Challenges for Beneficiaries Comparing Coverage Options Released: July 2019 [ Background Music ] [ James Cosgrove: ] It looks like the agency is responding to some of the shortcomings, and it will come out with a new version soon that will address some of these shortcomings. [ Matt Oldham: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm Matt Oldham. More than 60 million Americans receive some level of Medicare benefits, each making decisions on health and drug coverage. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has a website, the Medicare Plan Finder, to help beneficiaries with picking their best options. And James Cosgrove, a Healthcare director at GAO, is here to talk about a report on the usability of the Medicare Plan Finder website. Thanks for joining me, James. [ James Cosgrove: ] Thank you. Thank you for having me. [ Matt Oldham: ] So what did you find out with this website? Is the information complete? Is it easy to find? [ James Cosgrove: ] I wish I could say yes. Unfortunately, we found the website -- it's really difficult for beneficiaries to use. And it has several shortcomings. It's difficult because beneficiaries have to navigate through multiple pages to find the information they want. It lacks information and instructions for beneficiaries to help navigate through their way through the system. It often has a lot of complex terminology or jargon some beneficiaries just, you know, may not understand. And finally, it's missing some key information, some critical information about the cost of some of the coverage options, so it really hinders the making of some fair comparisons among some of the options. [ Matt Oldham: ] So how did you do the review? How did you find this out? [ James Cosgrove: ] Well, we spoke to many groups representing beneficiaries and insurers, so people who have direct contact with beneficiaries. But we also did a comprehensive survey of programs known as state health insurance assistance programs. And these are programs that have counselors that are available to help beneficiaries consider their health coverage options, so they work with beneficiaries on a day-to-day basis. And we asked the directors many, many questions. And one of the things they told us - 73 percent of the directors that responded to the survey told us that Plan Finder was either difficult or very difficult for beneficiaries to use. [ Matt Oldham: ] Why is it important for CMS to have a Medicare Plan Finder website that is easy to use and understand? [ James Cosgrove: ] Well, Medicare beneficiaries have many, many options for their coverage. They can decide whether they want to get their coverage through the original Medicare program that offers a great deal of flexibility in terms of what doctor they go to see. Or they may decide to enroll in one of the many Medicare advantage health plans. Now the health plans have advantages in that they may be cheaper, they may offer some additional coverage for things like vision care or dental care, but they may limit the choice of doctors that a patient can go see. So there are trade-offs. And if a beneficiary wanted to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan, on average they have 24 plans to choose from and they all have different benefit structures and requirements. And on top of everything else, beneficiaries have to choose how and whether they're going to get prescription drug coverage. So there are many choices, and it affects their out-of-pocket costs. It affects the services that may be covered. And it affects the choice of provider. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] So it sounds like there are some issues with the Medicare Plan Finder website that could make it difficult to compare plans or even find information on plans. So James, how can this website do better? [ James Cosgrove: ] Well, the good news is that CMS, the agency responsible for running this website, is aware of the shortcomings. And they're working on rolling out a new version which should be coming out in August of 2019. And agency officials have told us that it will address many, probably not all but many of the shortcomings that we have identified. So it should be easier to navigate. It should include some of the missing information on various cost options that we identified. So there are some improvements in the works [ Matt Oldham: ] Well, last question as we wrap-up. What's the bottom line? [ James Cosgrove: ] Well, the bottom line is Medicare beneficiaries have lots of choices. These choices are important because they affect cost and choice of provider and so having a resource like Plan Finder is really critically important to inform those decisions. And it looks like the agency is responding to some of the shortcomings, and with any luck it will come out with a new version soon that will address some of these shortcomings. [ Matt Oldham: ] James Cosgrove was discussing a GAO report which reviewed the usability of a website designed to help Medicare beneficiaries find information as they choose their coverage plans. Thank you for your time, James. [ James Cosgrove: ] Thank you. 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