By Barbara Anderson / The Fresno Bee

Thousands of seniors in the central San Joaquin Valley have signed up for Medicare prescription coverage, but thousands more are rushing to enroll in drug plans to beat an approaching deadline.

Those eligible must pick a Medicare prescription plan by May 15 or face a penalty for each month they delay enrollment.

By federal government estimates, about 24,000 seniors in Fresno County still need to choose a plan. And Valleywide, about 55,000 have yet to enroll.

Insurance counselors say while confusion still surrounds Medicare Part D, as the new drug prescription coverage is called, seniors are becoming more savvy about the enrollment process. And they're experiencing fewer problems than earlier in the year, when low-income seniors were automatically enrolled.

People are being careful when choosing a drug plan, says Toni Mares Cortez, manager of the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program in Fresno. "They're educating themselves to the point they're examining all the information they're receiving and they're asking very detailed questions."

Complaints about drug companies' customer service are down, said Dori Silveria, program manager of the insurance counseling office in Visalia.

At the beginning of the year, seniors routinely waited an hour or longer on the telephone to speak to company representatives about prescription snafus.

"I'm told plans have hired thousands of additional customer service representatives," Silveria said.

Jack Cheevers, director of communications at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services office in San Francisco, said telephone waiting times to reach Medicare also are down. "And drugs seem to be flowing fairly smoothly through pharmacies to customers for the most part."

But some glitches remain. Raul Solano, 70, a resident of Senior Citizens Village in southeast Fresno, has waited almost a month for a prescription drug card after enrolling in a Medicare plan in March.

Solano, who works part-time as a truck driver, pays about $100 a month for medications. On Monday, he said: "I'm going to have to pay for them tomorrow or the next day."

A class-action complaint filed in the U.S. Federal District Court in Northern California claims widespread confusion and problems and lack of access have resulted from the Medicare prescription drug plans for very low-income people.

A steady flow of seniors continues to come into the insurance counseling office in Visalia for help enrolling in plans, Silveria said.

Many of the seniors enrolled are "noticing the savings and of course are appreciative of it," she said.

Elva Campos, 67, of Visalia, has saved about $200 a month since signing up in February for a Medicare drug plan. Campos qualified for a low-income subsidy that offsets the cost of the coverage.

Campos was paying $220 a month out of her own pocket for medications. "Now with all my medications, I only pay $28 a month," she said.

Campos asked insurance counselors for help to enroll: "I was confused at first. I kept putting it off."

Fresno pharmacist Michael Winton said it's understandable why many seniors need help picking a plan.

Private drug companies contract with Medicare to provide prescription drugs, and about 40 different drug plans compete for the seniors' business in California.

Said Winton: "With all these different choices, people are bound to be confused."

Winton's advice to seniors: Talk to an insurance counselor, a family member or someone who understands the plans and choose the best three or four to compare.

Seniors who fail to sign up by May 15 will have to wait until Nov. 15 to enroll and face paying more for coverage.

The government will assess a 1% penalty for every month enrollment is delayed. The penalty is based on a national average cost, which likely will increase each year.

But Cortez said some seniors do not need to worry.

Those who have coverage equal to or better than Medicare through retirement plans will not be penalized if their retirement coverage changes or ends and they enroll in a Medicare plan.

Earlier this week, about 30 seniors at Senior Citizens Village in southeast Fresno attended a meeting sponsored by Assembly Member Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, to learn about Medicare prescription plans.

Doris Mock, 70, wasn't sure she needed the coverage. She takes three prescription drugs and spends about $39 a month for them.

"I'm trying to figure out if it would pay for me to sign up," she said.

But the possibility of needing the insurance later and being penalized for not signing up by May 15 concerned her.

Medicine Shoppe pharmacist Angelia Kwok volunteered to help seniors at the meeting and helped Mock choose three plans to consider.

"I don't need it right now," Mock said. "But down the road, who knows what's going to happen?"

The reporter can be reached at banderson@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6310.