Federal officials target Medicare’s poor-performing drug plans

Nationally, federal officials have given negative assessments to more than a quarter of Medicare's rated prescription drug plans that will be available to seniors in 2012. And in the Washington metropolitan area, 36 percent score unacceptably low, according to an analysis of Medicare data. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is notifying the plans that, unless they improve their performance over the next few years, they face expulsion from Medicare. This month, CMS revised the way it rates Medicare drug plans to focus more on quality, and many plans' ratings fell from 2011 to 2012.