The U.S. will be divided into different "enrollment regions," with a minimum of two choices per region. To figure out the best plan for you, consider several things.

First, list the prescription drugs you normally take -- plans will differ in which "formularies" or list of drugs they cover.

Second, consider whether or not you are currently covered under an employer or former employer's plan. If your employer's plan is considered "creditable," (as good as or better than Medicare's,) you may want to stick with your current coverage. Your employer will send such a letter so you can weigh your options.

In choosing one of the Medicare drug plans, beneficiaries will first have to figure out which covers the drugs they use. Then they will have to calculate whether the premium charged makes the plan a good deal. Then they can compare these options with a Medicare Advantage plan, such as a health-maintenance organization that manages all Medicare benefits, including drugs.

Although the program doesn't start until Jan. 1, an advertising blitz is already in motion. Drug companies, drugstores and insurers know there's lots of money to be made from the drug-benefit program. They want some of it.

Then there's the cost. Medicare and Medicaid coverage was merged in this new system, and many Medicaid customers are being presented with enormous bills. On Friday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reminded insurers that low-income beneficiaries should not be charged more than $5 for brand-name or more than $2 for generic drugs.

About 42 million disabled and older people must chose between competing private drug plans designed to subsidize the cost of their prescriptions; the penalty-free sign-up period ends 15 May. Medicare is subsidizing almost 3,000 plans in 34 regions, according to Bloomberg. And about 6 million elderly, low-income and disabled people were automatically switched from Medicaid to the Medicare plan on 1 January; much of the current disarray surrounds these beneficiaries.

This is what happens when Washington won't do the simple thing. The simple thing is to have the federal government buy drugs in bulk for everyone in the Medicare drug-benefit program. As a major purchaser, the feds could negotiate lower prices and simply pass them on to the beneficiaries. The program would cost taxpayers a lot less money - and it would make the beneficiaries who are trying to figure it out a lot less dizzy.

But no: That would be "price controls" to the Bush administration and many so-called conservatives in Congress. That the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments have been buying drugs in bulk for decades seems to have escaped their notice.

A Medicare drug-benefit program that seeks to maximize profits for participating businesses needs to be complicated in order to hide this goal.

If you qualify, several negatives of the new plans are eliminated. You won't have to pay premiums or deal with the $250 deductible; you'll be covered during the "doughnut hole" period, with Medicare picking up most costs; and you'll enjoy lower co-payments for extraordinary or "catastrophic" drug costs.

1. Internet: www.healthdecisions.org/guide

Beneficiaries can work through an interactive prescription drug plan guide to determine which type of drug plan best meets their needs. This site was designed by a group of U.S. health plans and pharmacies to assist you.

2. Internet: www.medicare.gov

Medicare has enhanced its Prescription Drug Plan Finder tool. Have your medication list, Medicare card, and/or Medicare advantage plan card.

3. Phone: 1-800-633-4227 (Medicare’s help line)

4. Your local pharmacist.