People are still experiencing problems with Medicare's Part D Galveston County Daily News, April 16, 2007 By Ivan Arceneaux GALVESTON - A St. Mary's Hospital retiree called me for help. Since the first of the year, her prescription costs rose from $24 to $174 and a doctor's visit, formerly covered by Medicare, costs $130 out-of-pocket. She called Medicare and went through the usual hoops. She called Social Security, which listened but did nothing. Originally, she had signed with Aetna and was satisfied. But she was unaware that Medicare Part D requires participants to select (or renew) their provider annually. She eventually was told that someone, somehow, had switched her to provider "X," hence the unexpected and exorbitant price increases. By the time she found this out, the March 31 deadline had passed for changing back to Aetna. The lady had been billed for a doctor's visit at the University of Texas Medical Branch, which provider "X" would not cover, and she had not been able to afford her medications since January.