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The federal government recently redesigned a digital tool that helps seniors navigate complicated Medicare choices, but consumer advocates say it's malfunctioning with alarming frequency, offering inaccurate cost estimates and creating chaos in some states during the open enrollment period. In Nebraska, miscalculations offered through the new Medicare Plan Finder were so worrisome that the state in late October temporarily shut down a network of about 350 volunteer Medicare advisers for a day because without the tool, narrowing the numerous choices -- more than 4,000 Medicare plans are available nationwide -- down to three top selections would be nearly impossible. Days later, EnvisionRxPlus, a prescription drug plan, sent an email to independent insurance brokers nationwide recommending they not use the Medicare Plan Finder because of incorrect estimates on drug prices and patient deductibles. Minnesota's Association of Area Agencies on Aging said in a news release on November 14 that the Medicare Plan Finder "continues to produce flawed results," including inaccurate premium estimates, incorrect prescription drug costs, and inaccurate costs with extra help subsidies. More than 60 million people use Medicare, which covers those over 65 and the disabled. Users have to pick their plans annually. Medicare advisers -- as well as advocates for seniors -- worry that the full weight of the tool's inaccuracies will not be felt until the 2020 coverage year begins and seniors head to pharmacies to fill prescriptions or show up for medical appointments. For many Medicare participants, selections made during open enrollment are irreversible. "Millions of people are going to be absolutely affected," said Ann Kayrish, senior program manager for Medicare at the National Council on Aging. "And you hate to think about millions of people having the wrong plan. That's kind of crazy.” The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the government agency that administers federal health programs, acknowledged in a statement that some problems have been reported but said development of the redesigned tool, which cost about $11 million, was an "iterative" process. The statement said CMS did "extensive consumer testing ... to ensure that the information that is displayed is complete, streamlined, understandable, and is in plain language.” CMS said the complete rebuild was necessary, it said, because legacy technology and "proprietary software" couldn't keep pace with "the needs of today's digital audience" and because of the explosion in options available to seniors under various plans. Millions of Medicare beneficiaries use the plan finder to reevaluate their insurance choices during open enrollment. The tool drives traffic to Medicare.gov, where users may filter, sort, and compare choices. You put in the drugs and you put in the pharmacies they want to go to, and it prices them all out. Without the plan finder "the only way to do that is go to 29 different websites and do them individually.” According to federal documents used during a national Medicare education meeting, more than 20 million users visited Medicare.gov to use the plan finder in 2017, accounting for about a third of all traffic to the site. The U.S. Government Accountability Office laid out a number of issues with the old plan finder in a July report, including "cumbersome" navigation, confusing instructions, difficult filter and sort functions, and incomplete cost estimates for traditional Medicare that makes it difficult to compare with Medicare Advantage. Source: https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/medicare/83605