Health Insurance Daily

Seniors Face Drug Plan Choices

The phone lines, inboxes and mailboxes of the nation's 43 million Medicare beneficiaries will be burdened by an unprecedented marketing campaign including dozens of firms seeking to enroll them for new prescription drug coverage beginning next year.

Premiums are ranging from $20 to $70 a month for the freestanding drug benefit. The drug coverage may cost nothing through some managed care plans. But no matter what the up-front costs, Medicare patients need to know that not all drugs they take will necessarily be covered, and most people will face out-of-pocket costs that will vary depending on how much they spend on drugs each year.

Critics of the program say the array of choices may prove so daunting to many seniors that they'll make poor choices or simply skip signing up for the coverage.

Virtually everyone involved in the drug program, officially known as Medicare Part D, stresses that seniors and disabled people should do their homework and talk over choices with someone they trust during the next few months.

To read this article in its entirity, click on The Detroit News Health.

posted by Mike @ 12:05 PM