LIBERTY, MO. ? President Bush visited this Kansas City suburb Monday to tout the new Medicare drug prescription discount card — but acknowledged the program has been daunting for many senior citizens.

“We’re trying to fight through the clutter, the noise, so that people understand there’s a good opportunity,” he told a crowd of more than 500 people at a tickets-only event at the Liberty Community Center.

The program gives Medicare recipients a discount of 10 percent to 30 percent on name-brand prescription drugs, the White House says, with bigger discounts for generic medications. Poorer Medicare recipients also are eligible for a $600-a-year benefit to help pay for those drugs.

“It amounts to literally thousands of dollars in savings,” said Dr. Mark McClellan, director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who attended Monday’s event in Liberty.

Kansans hesitant

Wanda Blackmore of Kansas City, Mo., shared the stage with Bush, saying the card helped her trim the cost of one prescription from $10 to less than $2.

“I’m delighted by the program,” she said.

In Kansas, though, senior citizens and those who work with them say the program has been, at best, a confusing maze that discourages participation. Officials said enrollment here has been low, though the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could not provide numbers for the state.

“It’s quite a mess,” said Janet Ikenberry, community services manager at Douglas County Senior Services. “It’s a very strange and tedious thing. It’s a lot of work for … not a lot of discount, when you get down to it.”

President Bush leaves the Liberty Community Center after a speech promoting the new Medicare drug prescription discount card. Bush was in Liberty, in the north part of the Kansas City, Mo., metro area, on Monday.

The problem, Ikenberry said, was that there were dozens of discount cards to choose from, each offering different discounts for different types of drugs. Once a Medicare patient signs up for a card, they’re stuck in that program — even if they later find out another discount card would have suited them better.

‘Confused, suspicious’

And while Bush said Blackmore would save $750 on her prescription drugs this year thanks to the new program, Ikenberry suggested such stories might be rare.

“What we’re finding, in the majority of cases, people are already paying less (at pharmacies) than what the card would offer them for the drug,” she said.

Over lunch Monday at Douglas County Senior Services, 745 Vt., retiree Ken Wehmeyer of Lawrence said he hadn’t applied for the drug discount program.

“I may research it some more but I’m sure we’ll discover that this won’t do us any good,” Wehmeyer said. “With our medical plan (Blue Cross Blue Shield) we only pay about a fifth of the overall price anyway. There’s no way they’ll give us a double discount, any more on top of what we already get.”

Mary Kreider, who was playing pinochle, agreed.

“It’s not a secret. People know about it,” she said of the low enrollment. “But with anything new, it takes awhile before people are familiar with it.”

Tom Wilcox, owner of Round Corner Drug Co., 801 Mass., said few of his customers were using the cards.

6News video: Bush visits area, touts Medicare cards Bush will discuss Medicare in K.C. area (06-12-04) Few signing up for Medicare drug card (05-29-04) Medicare.gov

“People are confused, suspicious,” he said.

John Kiefhaber, executive director of the Kansas Pharmacists Assn., agreed.

“We’re hoping (the program) helps people out,” he said. “But we don’t know how effective it is.”

Lots of choice

Bush is trying to allay such concerns, and to counter growing Democratic criticism that the sign-up process is too confusing and the program is more of a boon for the drug industry than low-income senior citizens.

“We’ve got some problems,” he said, but overall “this thing is working.”

Still, Bush allowed that there were many skeptics of the discount cards.

“I fully understand there are a lot of seniors who don’t want to change,” he said.

But he disputed that the number and variety of discount cards was a problem with the program.

“You’ll hear that there’s going to be a lot of choices. You bet. That’s what we want. We don’t want one-size-fits-all,” he said. “I understand that for some people, that will seem complicated.”

Joe Tilghman, the Kansas City-based regional director for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said 65,000 Kansans were eligible for the $600 annual benefit. Even skeptics of the discount program say that’s a good reason for poorer senior citizens — couples who make less than $16,862 a year, or individuals who make less than $12,569 — to sign up.

“It’s limited,” Ikenberry said, “but for the lower-income folks it’s a good thing.”

Bush was more optimistic.

“This discount card,” he said, “is going to save seniors a lot of money.”

— Staff writer Jennifer Byrd contributed to this story.