A senior can either add a Medicare prescription drug plan, better known as Part D, or a Medicare Advantage plan, more commonly referred to as Part C, that offers Medicare prescription drug coverage. Attendees can find out if they qualify for Medicare Savings Programs, and also about free preventive services offered by Medicare, and how to protect themselves from healthcare fraud.
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But there was a difference when the researchers looked at people requiring complex care – with more switching away from Medicare Advantage plans than from traditional Medicare.
For more information on either workshop, call 410-386-3806. A few plans have you pay 40% to 50% of the cost of certain brand-name drugs, which could be hundreds of dollars, even if your drugs are covered.
The research raises questions whether Medicare Advantage plans are the solution to controlling spending on the patients who account for most healthcare costs.
Nebraska Senior Health Insurance Information Program is sponsoring “Choose the Right Medicare Drug Plan” on Thursday, October 22 at the Sidney Public Library. The steps include paying more to private plans for sicker patients, and giving them incentives to manage costs.
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It’s easy to compare all of the Part D and Medicare Advantage plans available in your area at www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan. High prices for specialty medications played a significant role in double-digit increases in Part D benefit costs for Medicare, according to the most recent report from the trustees that oversee the Medicare system, and those trends are likely to continue as drugmakers seek to earn profits from their higher-end products. “There may be situations where a drug you were taking was on the formulary last year, but it won’t be on the formulary this year”, says Jack Hoadley, a health policy analyst at Georgetown University. If the changes don’t work for you, you can switch to a new plan during the open enrollment period without penalty. “When the plan finds out this patient is very costly, there are incentives for the plan to get rid of the patient”, he says. The maximum possible deductible will climb from $320 in 2015 to $360 in 2016. “That means that the best plan for you this year may not be the best plan for you next year”. The study found that the average American who uses Medicare Part D for their prescription drug coverage paid an average of $466 in annual premiums during 2015. A preferred mail-order pharmacy may cost even less. “If you are unable to get your prescription filled at a pharmacy offering this preferred pricing, you will have to pay a bit more”.
