Medicare Savings Programs have been called the " critical illness insurance life" for lower-income seniors. In 1999, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimated that only 54% of people eligible for the two most popular Savings Programs were actually enrolled in them. The reasons cited for the low enrollments are:
* relatively few people, including some eligibility workers, understand how Savings Programs work;
* the application process can be tedious; and
* the eligibility rules can be confusing.