Pharmacy students match senior citizens with proper drug plans

A group of 160 students in UConn’s School of Pharmacy has been helping many of the Connecticut Department of Social Services’ 48,000 ConnPACE clients find the appropriate Medicare Part D plans to pay for their medications.

With a May 15 deadline approaching for seniors to either enroll in a Medicare drug plan without penalty or switch plans, the pharmacy students are wading through more than 16,000 profiles of ConnPACE clients.

Each of the ConnPACE clients – some seniors, some disabled people – takes between three and six “maintenance” medications a month, not including occasional other prescriptions for infections or other problems.

The students’ job is to review each person’s medication regimen, and narrow the choices down from the 44 options available in Connecticut to three plans that cover all the person’s medications, wherever possible.

The partnership between the School of Pharmacy and the state – believed to be a first nationwide – has been lauded by the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and has drawn inquiries from other states hoping to duplicate it, says Peter Tyczkowski, the school’s educational outreach coordinator.

Tyczkowski has been overseeing the students’ work.

The students also recently took second place in a national competition for Medicare outreach programs held by the National Council of State Pharmacy Association Executives.

In December, about 80 UConn pharmacy students reviewed the initial 4,000 ConnPACE client profiles as the first deadline for the program neared.

In addition to the 16,000 cases the students are currently working on, they may also be asked to review 4,000 additional patient profiles with slightly more complex drug regimens.

“The students are performing an invaluable community service by providing individualized reviews of our clients’ medication regimens,” says Department of Social Services Deputy Commissioner Michael Starkowski.

“They are pairing our clients with the most appropriate plans and making sure they receive the maximum benefits from the new Medicare drug plan. They also are helping reduce confusion at the pharmacy counter and reduce the need for doctors and pharmacists to request exceptions for non-formulary drugs.”

The students, in turn, “are receiving first-hand knowledge of Medicare Part D and the complex combinations of medicine on which our seniors rely,” he adds.