The new medicare Prescription drug card

1-800-MEDICARE (ask about the new prescription drug discount card)

The new prescription drug card turns out to be a rather good deal, I thought, with drug costs running about 20 percent of what someone would pay without the plan and most of the usual medications which seniors take, ARE covered, even the name brands.  It apparently is an interim card until more substantial benefits kick in, in year 2006.  Following are more details about this plan.

Like all government operations, the site (and the program) is complex. You are first asked to fill out what drugs you NEED and what your income is because what benefits are available on the card and whether you get the tax break (up to $1200 a year) for non covered drugs, is somewhat contingent on income. You are NOT asked your name or address, just the zip code. You are also asked to click "OK" on a non disclosure agreement (which is meaningless since you have not supplied your name or any personal information which is traceable).

I am not on Medicare and only take allergy meds, but I filled out the form on the website as a person ON Medicare with an income of over $5000 per year (worst case scenario - least coverage), for a usual cocktail of drugs a person my age might be taking - for blood pressure, diabetes, blood thinner for atherosclerosis and celebrex and neurotin for pain and lipitor for cholesterol. I selected all name brands - generics are less expensive but I like name brands. Once you get to the place where you can select the drugs, you can see a list of "most usual drugs" which are covered. Or you can search for the drug you'd like to look up. Like the insurance lists you may have to make substitutions like Glucophage for Avandia etc.

The drugs I listed (6 of them) which all are in excess of $80-$110 per month each, so would cost me over $650-$700 per month if I SELF paid, could be gotten by a person with a $5000 + income on medicare with the new card, for $215 a month for ALL OF THEM (for all name brand drugs) at several pharmacies near me (you put in your zip code and it tells you the participating pharmacies) one of which was Walgreen's which is open 24 hours. They give you the list of pharmacies and the price comparison (Walgreen's was the least expensive).

You can also mail order the drugs on which, the cost would be similar per month but you can get a three month supply.

Apparently the new card is issued through the pharmacy - the pharmacy has a small annual enrollment fee (Walgreen's charges $20 a year).

The card is new so probably more drugs will be added in the future and also many more pharmacies. There is increased coverage (the site told me) starting in 2006 which will cover more and add new savings and reimbursements.

The plan did not look bad to me at all. But a stumbling block for some will be the complexity of the website which, although tries to be helpful for each person at their level of income and insurance coverage (makes a difference obviously if you have drugs covered by other insurance), it ends up being difficult enough to use that people like myself who are just looking for a ballpark figure who are less experienced than I am in computer geek stuff, might have a difficult time figuring out how to get a ballpark figure thus ending up looking at less reliable sources (like the TV news - in which the blabographers ALSO probably never researched the website). Perhaps it is easier to get info via the 800 number but knowing govt stuff, I wouldn't guarantee it and that has remained the same (difficulty with dealing with phoning govt agencies) regardless of what party supplies the president currently in office. :)

 

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