Seniors struggling with Medicare coverage

MILWAUKEE, July 19 (UPI) -- Nearly 279,000 U.S. senior citizens are struggling to cope with a series of errors related to Medicare Part D premiums.

Betty Ives, a native of Oshkosh, Wis., said she has repeatedly found deductions for the Medicare premiums from her Social Security checks despite the fact she doesn't receive the benefits, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel said Thursday.

The 81-year-old is among nearly 138,000 seniors with such a problem, while another 141,000 receive the benefits but cannot have the automatic deductions initiated, the newspaper said.

Ives said that the nationwide problem, reportedly caused by a computer glitch, has created a terrible situation for seniors like her.

"I don't understand how they can keep taking this money from me," she told the Journal-Sentinel. "I'm going to be 82 in October and to go through this is terrible."

A spokesman for Medicare recognized there was a problem with the computer link between the organization and the Social Security Administration, but told the newspaper that the issue was shrinking overall.