(CBS) Officials at Medicare are bracing for a harshly critical report which examines how seniors got information about the new Medicare drug benefit, reports CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews.

On Wednesday the Government Accountability Office will release the results of an undercover investigation into the complicated benefit, which provides drug coverage through private insurance companies. The report lambastes the brochures the government published before the benefit kicked in as being too complex for seniors, and accuses the government-run call centers of being too often incapable of giving seniors correct information.

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Read the GAO Medicare Drug Benefit Report As It Was Released On Wednesday

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CBS News has learned GAO investigators spent several weeks calling the 1-800-Medicare call line, posing as senior citizens asking for information about the new benefit. What they heard amounted to a busy signal.

Investigators read from a set list of five to six questions that seniors might be expected to ask. Sources say the government's own information specialists — the very people real seniors were calling for help — could often not answer the questions. The failure rate, or "incomplete call rate," was described as unacceptably high.

Medicare plans to vigorously dispute these findings, and officials contend that most of the problems the GAO found have been fixed. They plan to say they are not getting enough credit for the massive information campaign that did result in millions of seniors learning about and successfully signing up for the benefit.

They will also accuse the GAO of using bad techniques, because real seniors give personal information, like their real Medicare ID numbers (which the posers could not give) which would have allowed the call centers to answer more of the questions.

The head of Medicare, Dr. Mark McClellan, plans to fire back against the charges in an appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.

But the allegations will still fuel Democratic calls to extend the plan's signup deadline beyond May 15. House Democrats in particular have said they intend to make an issue of the program in this fall's midterm elections. Under pressure, congressional Republicans are considering elimination of the financial penalty for missing the deadline.

The drug program is voluntary, and individuals who never enroll do not incur a penalty.

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