Insurers Court Elderly for Medicare Plan

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: October 1, 2005

Filed at 12:59 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The hard sell began Saturday as dozens of private insurers tried to sign up some 42 million older and disabled people for the government's new Medicare prescription drug benefit.

The program, which starts in January, is designed to reduce the out-of-pocket cost of medications. Overall, the government will spend an estimated $724 billion on the drug benefit over the coming decade.