Many Skip Medicare D(isaster) Participation

In Florida, many senior citizens are not signing up for a Medicare D(isaster) Plan and are purchasing their rx's through Canadian pharmacies, despite increased enforcement of the legislation that makes the importing of rx's from Canada illegal. 

It was also reported earlier, that seniors in other states have also decided that Medicare D(isaster) was not to their liking.  An earlier study by the Kaiser foundation discovered that

25 percent of eligible seniors, as many as 7.4 million people, could find that buying drugs on their own would cost less than they'd spend on premiums, copays and other expenses that come with the Medicare plan.

Apparently, many seniors have taken the advice of the Bush adminisitration, which was to compare plans, determine which rx's are covered, have done a cost-benefit analysis of Medicare D(isaster) plans offered, compared them to the prices that would be paid for purchasing rx's in Canada, exercised their personal responsibility, and, made the choice NOT to enroll in one.

Rx costs have actually INCREASED under Medicare D(isaster), as demonstrated by a report prepared for members of Congress.  The findings of the report are

a package of 10 popular medications bought in Chicago under Medicare's drug program cost 65 percent more than a similar package purchased at Canadian drugstores.

And,

if a consumer had bought the 10 drugs on Drugstore.com, the costs would have been 6 percent lower...

That infomation leaves a person to conclude that Medicare D(isaster) does not provide the savings that those who advocated it claim.  Despite that, Peter Ashkenaz, of CMS/Medicare still insists that the purchasing of rx's through Medicare is cheaper, provided that a person uses one of the mail-order plans and is able to take generics, as opposed prescriptions that are written DAW (dispense as written).  Ashkenaz further states that

"By enrolling in a Medicare drug plan, beneficiaries not only get good prices, but insurance against catastrophic drug costs...You cannot get the peace of mind of insurance by ordering your drugs from Canada."

And,

"beneficiaries enrolled in [Part D plans] may pay less for their drugs than those ordering drugs from Canada."

The use of Canadian stores to fill rx's is a possible opption for medicines not covered by the plans. Ordering from Canada once the "doughnut hole" (when drug coverage temporarily stops in the plans) is another option.  Interestingly, there are doctors who are suggesting to their patients that rx's be ordered from Canada in order to get a better price.

The last statement by Ashkenaz counters the statement by Henry Waxman that

Medicare officials had lost credibility. "They tell us that prices are amazingly low when seniors can see with their own eyes that that isn't the case."

A question:  whose peace of mind is Ashkenaz referring to?