Rush to enroll creates crunch at pharmacies.

Byline: Erica Pippins

Jan. 8--The huge number of Medicare recipients who signed up in December to make sure their Part D benefits kicked in by the first of the year are finding themselves in lines at area pharmacy counters.

Several pharmacies are struggling to verify their enrollment information on Medicare's overloaded computer system, especially for those who signed up so late that they haven't received an acknowledgment letter or identification card.

"The (insurance) companies weren't prepared for us," said Joe Street, a pharmacist at Adams Dru